


Knight of the Lost Woods

by Ibijau



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Betrayal, Dark Link - Freeform, Happy Ending, Illustrations, Inspired by Maleficent (2014), Kokiri are different, Kokiri have wings and can age, Lovers To Enemies, M/M, Morally Ambiguous Character, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Selectively Mute Link (Legend of Zelda), Unstable Character, but it's there so yeah, kokiri!Link, link/Rhoam is only at the beginning and goes sour pretty fast, listen you've seen the movie you know it aint all roses and candies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-09
Updated: 2019-11-15
Packaged: 2020-08-13 20:03:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 31,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20179942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ibijau/pseuds/Ibijau
Summary: Once upon a time, there were two kingdoms are war, ready to destroy one another.Once upon a time, a kokiri fell in love with a hylian and chose to grow old alongside him, only to be betrayed.Once upon a time, there was a princess, a curse, a godfather.Once upon a time, Link made all the wrong choices and had to live with them.(Maleficent!AU with Link as Maleficent)(Link/Rhoam only the first two chapters for plot reasons)





	1. Tell me Lies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I saw ONE gifset about Diaval being in love with Maleficent, and then this happened, oops?  
Anyway, please enjoy this little fic. I cannot promise it will be 100% faithful to the film or to Zelda lore because where's the fun in that, but I hope you'll still like it!  
Also, I swear the Link/king Rhoam is only in this first chapter
> 
> chapter title from Beautiful Lies by Beyond the Black

Once upon a time, there existed two kingdoms at war with one another. The first, Hyrule, was full of ordinary folks with little magic to them, ruled by a greedy king obsessed with power. The second they called the Lost Woods, and it was home to all sorts of fantastical beings, kokiris and koroks, bokoblins and lynels, and many more. These creatures had no need for king nor queens and lived in harmony, their only fear being the too frequent attacks of their hylian neighbours.

Among the inhabitants of the Lost Woods, one showed promises of greater magic than any others, a kokiri boy by the name of Link, with large golden wings and a taste for green clothes. For many years, that kokiri had taken it upon himself to protect the land he lived on, never aging out of boyhood yet strong enough to fight the armies of Hyrule. It was a duty he had chosen for himself, and one he accomplished with a light heart.

Never did the kokiri boy have any hesitation to do what was needed, until one morning when he was told a hylian intruder was spotted in the Spring of Courage. Grabbing his wooden sword he flew to the spring in question to find two lynels already there, bows aimed at a small crook in rock walls around the water.

“So, he’s in there?” Link asked, trying to peer into the darkness but failing to spot anything. “That’s funny, I wonder how he got this far.” He straightened up, trying to make himself more impressive. “Well, come out now, hylian!”

“I don’t want to,” a small voice said from the dark. “They’re ugly and they’re trying to kill me.”

One of the lynel let out a pained groan, and Link crossed his arms, pouting.

“Well, that’s just rude! He’s a very handsome and sensitive fellow, I’ll have you know! And stealing is bad, but we don’t kill people over that here. So come out now!”

There was some movement inside the little crook, and a blond boy looking hardly any older than Link came into the light. So that was how he had managed to get so far into the Lost Woods, Link guessed. Children of hylians had an innocence their elder lost, and the Woods did not always reject them.

“Look, he’s just a child!” the kokiri told the lynels. “It’s fine, he won’t do any harm.”

The same lynel who had been offended by the insult grumbled something, and Link nodded in agreement. 

"Yes, of course!" he turned to the other boy, smiling as he held out his hand. "I'll need you to give it back, you know." 

The hylian boy hesitated, but under Link's insistent look he gave in and took a small crystal from his pouch, giving it to the kokiri. Link's smile widened as he dropped the crystal back into the water, where it belonged.

"Why did you do that!" the hylian complained. "I wouldn't have given it if I knew you'd throw it away!" 

"I didn't throw it away, I brought it home. And I'll do the same with you now," Link announced, grabbing the other boy's wrist, dismissing the two lynels with his free hand. 

The hylian boy grumbled, but allowed himself to be taken away from the spring. They walked through the Woods and while at first the hylian stayed silent, he soon showed some curiosity. 

"So, what are you then?" he asked. "You look like a real boy, but those wings…" 

"I am real! I'm a kokiri, and I need the wings to fly of course." 

To demonstrate, Link hopped and flapped his wings to get as high as the trees allowed before landing back next to the hylian. The look of awe on his face was a very pleasing one.

"My name is Link," he announced, grinning. "What's yours ?"

"I'm Rhoam. So you live in this forest? Always?"

Link nodded, taking Rhoam's wrist again to pull him to the edge of the woods, but with less urgency than before.

"Of course I live here. Where else could I go? And you? Do you live in that big castle? Grandfather Deku says that's where humans come from."

Rhoam stopped on his tracks so abruptly that Link almost lost his balance. There was now a scowl on the hylian's face, as if that very subject were painful to him.

"I live in a barn," he spat out. "But someday, I _will_ live in that castle!"

"Oh. Your parents are farmers then?"

There was little love between the Woods folks and the farmers who kept trying to burn their trees, but Link still wanted to make an exception for this boy. If the Woods had let him in, his heart had to be good.

"I don't have parents," Rhoam replied.

Link's smile fell, and he sighed.

"Me neither. There was a war... But I have grandfather Deku, and everyone else, so it's fine. Do you have friends?"

"I don't know. If you want to be my friend, I'll have at least one?" Rhoam suggested with a hopeful smile.

That bold offer got Link's smile fully back on his face, so wide it almost hurt his cheeks. It was a bad idea to befriend a hylian, everyone always said so, but... Rhoam had been very nice aside from trying to steal a crystal. And even that had been done without evil intent, or the woods have not let him in. 

He held out his hand, grinning. "Fine, we could be friends." 

Rhoam matched his grin with one of his own and took the offered hand. 

Immediately Link screamed in pain and jumped back, tears at the corner of his eyes as a burn mark appeared at the base of his fingers. Rhoam stared at him with concern before inspecting his own hand. There was no burn on him, only an old ring. 

"What is that?" Link asked, massaging his pained skin. 

"It's just a malice ring... It's supposed to bring you protection, even knights use it in their armour. Did it... hurt you?" 

Link nodded. "Malice is dangerous to woodland beings. Its magic doesn't work well with ours." 

Without a second of hesitation, Rhoam slid his ring from his finger and flung it into the distance. He offered his hand to Link again with an apologetic smile. The kokiri took the hand and this time there was no pain, only warmth and the joy of having made a new friend. One willing to sacrifice what little he had, just so they could shake hands. 

* * *

It was some weeks before Rhoam could return to the Lost Woods, but when he did Link rushed to meet him. It felt as though not an hour had passed since their first meeting, and Link set out to show his world to his new friend. Rhoam was suitably impressed and amazed by all of it, and they played for hours and hours among the trees, games of hide and seek with the koroks, dances with the skullkids, flying high in the sky with Rhoam clinging tight to Link's neck, screaming and laughing.

What they did not see that time they saw the next time they met. For weeks, for months, for years, Rhoam returned to the Lost Woods as often as he could. The hylian grew slowly over time, and to their surprise so did Link, having now found something that made aging attractive. It was exciting to grow together, but it also brought many questions for Link. Had his heart always beat so fast when he heard Rhoam's voice at the edge of the forest? Was his friend's face always so striking in the sunset light? Did he always dream of scraping his nails against the short blond beard his friend was trying to grow? Did his chest always constrict this way when Rhoam fell asleep on the grass after playing in the river, his body outlined by damp clothes? No one in the Lost Woods knew how to answer his questions. Few kokiri had ever chosen to grow, and they had left even fewer traces of their experiences.

It was Rhoam himself who, in the end, helped him understand.

It was a warm summer day. They had been walking and chatting for a long time, before going to sit on the river's bank. Link had playfully announced that he believed it to be his one hundred and seventeenth birthday, although of course that first century had left few marks on him.

The announcement left Rhoam dreamy for a moment, and he gazed at the kokiri with heat in his eyes.

"That certainly is worthy of a great present," the hylian decided, grinning. "Seventeen is the age of wisdom for my people, you'd be an adult now you've grown this much."

“I’m not sure I’d want that,” Link protested, reclining until was lying in the grass, his wings spread above his head, his feet barely touching the surface of the water. “You’re an adult, and it doesn’t sound like you enjoy it very much.”

Rhoam’s grin widened, as if he knew something Link didn’t. “It has good sides too,” he said, bringing one hand to Link’s closest wing, his fingers brushing against the soft golden feathers. Link shivered, as he always did. No one else touched his wings, because that was bad decorum, but Rhoam had always been so intrigued by them and the kokiri had never seen any reason to deny him. “There are things only adults are allowed to do.”

“Yes, pay taxes,” Link chuckled. He did not quite understand what taxes were, but Rhoam had complained about them for a while. “You’re not selling me on this being adult thing so far.”

“Then perhaps this will,” Rhoam whispered as he bent over Link to press their lips together.

Link gasped at the unexpected contact, but did not push his friend away. On the contrary his arms found their way around Rhoam’s neck to keep him close, while the hylian cupped his cheek with infinite tenderness.

“What was that?” Link mumbled when the touch ended.

“A kiss,” Rhoam explained with a gentle laugh. “True love’s Kiss. So you won’t forget me when I’m gone.”

Link licked hip lips. He had rather enjoyed that kiss thing, and wouldn’t have minded a little more of it. He was lifting his head to claim Rhoam’s lips again when his friend’s words caught up with him.

“You are going somewhere?”

Something on Rhoam’s face hardened and he pulled away from the kokiri’s embrace. Link immediately missed the earlier softness of their kiss.

“I have been offered a chance to work at the castle,” he explained with a familiar edge to his voice that Link never liked. “I cannot pass that chance to finally become _ someone _.”

Link sat up and tilted his head to better look at his friend. No, he did not care for that hardness in Rhoam. It often brought a sharpness to his friend’s voice, a contained disdain for all the beautiful things in the Lost Woods that he used to love so dearly. This too, Link suspected, might have been part of becoming an adult. Or perhaps it was just the effect Hyrule had on its people. There were fully grown creatures in the Lost Woods who might have called themselves adults, but none of them bore the darkness he could almost see spreading inside Rhoam’s heart.

“You are someone,” Link promised, wrapping his arms around Rhoam’s chest, bringing his wings around them as if that might protect them. “You are my friend. You are the person I want to kiss. You don’t have to go to the castle. Why not stay here with me? If I ask, the others will allow it. If we are in love…”

He blushed at his own words. They were in love! How could Rhoam talk of leaving?

“I do love you,” Rhoam sighed, pressing a brief kiss to the kokori’s lips. Link’s wings fluttered. “But I cannot live on love alone. I want to make something of my life. I want to take this word and leave it a better place than I found it! And working at the castle is my best chance for that.”

“Will you still visit me?” Link asked as he folded his wings on his back.

“As soon as I can,” Rhoam promised, taking Link’s hand and kissing his cheek. “You are my dear friend and I love you too much to never come back. Will you think of me until then?”

Link smiled, as much as he could when his heart was breaking. “I always think of you. Will you remember me too, when you’re so far from all magic?”

Rhoam chuckled, his eyes shining affection as he kissed Link’s cheek again, his chin, his nose, and finally his mouth with such tenderness the kokiri barely dared to breathe.

“I will never forget you,” Rhoam promised against his lips. “It was True Love’s kiss, and it binds us together, forever.”


	2. Till your treason won’t hurt anymore

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rhoam comes back to the Lost Woods, his choice made

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter title from Beautiful Lies by Beyond the Black

Many years passed, and Rhoam did not return. In the absence of his dearest friend, Link stopped ageing again, for what was the point if he had no one to share the process with?

He had little time to think of his disappointment nor of how much he missed his lover. Which each passing winter there were new attacks on the woods by nearby hylians, and Link was determined to protect the land he loved so much. It was never clear to him what their enemy wanted, and perhaps they all wanted different things; new lands for their farms, wood for their fires, precious stones for their greed, imprisoned creatures for their cruel amusement.

Again and again, the hylians returned with weapons that kept getting stronger, blades and armours they imbued with malice to better harm the inhabitants of the Lost Woods. Link learned from one of them that it was the will of their king Ganondorf to take possession of the woods before he passed, that he would stop at nothing for it.  It did not come as a great surprise when one morning the king himself came to the edge of the woods, followed by a vast army. Well, the Lost Woods had their own army, and Link was ready to lead it.

It was a vicious fight, and one the hylians could never have won. Their heavy armours and broadswords could do little when the very trees awoke to defend themselves, when the great dragons themselves came to help, when every creature of the Lost Woods, large or small, was determined to fight to the death to protect their home.

Link was the one who struck down the king, holding the same wooden sword he’d had since childhood. And what a pitiful man but that king, an usurper among hylians who could hardly breathe because his breastplate had taken a hard hit, crushing his bones and his lungs. He might survive a while, but he would not live very long after that battle.

“You will never have the Lost Woods,” Link hissed at him, spreading his wings above his head, his blade pointed at the gasping king. “Not you, not anyone who comes after you. Tell that to your people!”

“Monster!”

Link sneered at him. Of course they were monsters. Better that than to be a hylian.

Seeing their king wounded and defenceless, some of his knights came running for him, swords in hand. Link gave the pitiful king another glare and took flight. Let them have their tyrant if it pleased them. King Ganondorf would not bother him much longer.

* * *

King Ganondorf was brought to his bed and treated by all the best healers Hyrule had, to little effect. Each breath brought him a little closer to his death. None of the healers would give him a prognostic, but his groom of the chamber told him they were speaking of little more than a month, perhaps two if he were lucky.

Lying in bed with pillows to support him, king Ganondorf summoned his best general. Or at least, those who had managed to survive the massacre of the Lost Woods and whose ambition hadn’t become so dangerous he’d had them put to death.

“I will be brief,” he announced, struggling to get the words out. “I demand revenge. The creature with wings. It must be put down. Without it… the Lost Woods fall.”

He eyed the generals, and they avoided his gaze. Traitors, all of them. But of course, he had been in their place, had taken over when the last king died without heir. There would be a war after his death, and the monsters of the Lost Wood would be allowed to live on for many years until someone got a strong hold of Hyrule again .

“Kill the winged boy,” he ordered. “Whoever does it…”

A spell of coughing interrupted him, lasting until his groom of the chamber rushed to his side with another pillow and some tea for his throat. Another traitor, who would not shed a tear over his death and would merrily serve whoever would succeed him.

“Whoever kill it will be king,” Ganondorf proclaimed. “Bring me proof. Marry my daughter. You will be king. Supported by the people."

Surprise and determination appeared on the generals’ faces, and they were all quick to make promises. Traitors and faithless. Ganondorf did not expect a single one to succeed. Did not even expect them to try, for there were easier ways to become king. But they would not keep his last demand a secret, and Hyrule was full of desperate men eager for power. The winged monster would never have peace again and if Ganondorf was lucky he might be avenged, either by an idle knight or a tenacious peasant. 

* * *

Rhoam hopped down from the cart, and silently motioned for the driver to wait for him there, a little way from the woods where he knew Link would not detect his presence. Alone he walked to the trees and called out his old friend’s name, half hoping the kokiri would not show up. But of course, he did.

It took his breath away to see Link again after so long, almost unchanged. Rhoam himself was well past his thirtieth birthday, a hard life already greying his hair while his face and his body had become heavier. But Link as he appeared then seemed barely past his boyhood, his body slender yet strong, his pretty face untouched by the years. His hair was still the same golden blond, perfectly matched to his great wings. Even his eyes lacked the weariness Rhoam saw in his own whenever he passed a mirror.

“So you have returned at last,” Link said, with a smirk hardly less innocent than in Rhoam’s memories. “Did you get tired of the hylian world after all?”

“No, I came to warn you,” Rhoam whispered, glancing around to make sure no one could see them. “The king is dying, and he has demanded for you to follow him in the grave. I had to make sure you knew, that you’d take care to protect yourself…”

The kokiri’s smirk morphed into a fond smile and he brought one hand to Rhoam’s cheek, his fingers catching into the hylian’s beard.

“I knew you’d return for me,” Link sighed. “I just didn’t think it’d take this long. And what will you do, now that you have betrayed you king?”

“You offered once to let me stay in the Lost Woods with you,” Rhoam reminded him, focusing all of his heart on that distant memory, the joy he’d felt at the suggestion, the pain when he had been forced to refuse. Link’s eyes shone as though he could feel Rhoam’s regrets, and he rose on his tiptoes to plant a kiss at the corner of the hylian’s lips, too shy for more.

“You are always welcome at my side, my love,” the kokiri said. “Years cannot change how I feel for you.”

True to his words, Link led the hylian inside the Lost Woods as if no more than a few hours had passed since their last meeting. The woods had also changed little, the entire place immune to the passage of time, and Rhoam could not help but wonder if he too would have been granted youth and health, had he stayed. The creatures they met threw him some wary looks, but Link took care of explaining everyone they met that his dear friend Rhoam had returned, that he would not leave again, that he should be allowed to go as he liked within the woods. King Ganondorf had been right about that at least; The entirety of the Lost Woods looked up to Link and would be lost without them.

They went to the river that coursed through the forest. Link led them to a spot where they had so often played as children, where Rhoam had shamelessly flirted and enjoyed Link’s confusion about his own emotions. The very spot where they had first kissed. Rhoam fully understood the acceptance and love that this choice signified. He had been gone many years, but Link did not care now that he was back.

“Let us drink to our reunion,” Rhoam offered as they settled on the grass, one arm open to let Link rest his head on his chest.

“A worthy thing to celebrate,” Link agreed, taking the wine-skin Rhoam handed him and taking a few sips from it before handing it back. “It will be so wonderful to have you at my side again! You will… you will love it. So much… much to see.”

Rhoam looked down at the kokiri as he lost consciousness. The poison had been a fast one and would have killed a hylian in seconds.

Yet Link still breathed after a few minutes, forcing Rhoam to accept he’d have to take a more direct approach if he wanted something better in life than to make someone else’s bed. He had hoped he could avoid getting his hands dirty, but had brought a knife in case things did not go according to plan. How hard could it be to kill this monster in the shape of a boy, a creature that had murdered so many good soldiers?

His resolve vanished like snow in the sun when he actually looked at the kokiri sleeping on the grass. Link was peaceful in his sleep, weakly clinging to Rhoam’s tunic as a child would his mother. As someone would with a trusted lover. Link was a monster and a murderer, but in that instant he looked like nothing more than an innocent young man, someone Rhoam had once cared for and passionately desired. A boy who had welcomed him with open arms, who had smiled and instantly given him his whole heart again without a care for all that had changed. They had once looked similar enough they could have passed from cousins. Now Rhoam might as well have been his father.

Another reason to kill the kokiri. If Rhoam had been marked so much by life, how did this creature dare to still be young and beautiful? And yet how could he kill a boy so handsome, his pale face and red cheeks contrasting so sweetly against the dark grass, his great golden wings framing him like the frame of a great painting?

Rhoam’s fingers brushed against the top of those wings, and they fluttered under his touch, as they had always done. He had always adored those wings as a child, before he and all of Hyrule learned to despise the sight of them because no other creatures had wings quite like Link’s.

He clenched his fist on the knife he was holding.

Perhaps he would not need to murder for this.

* * *

There was no describing the look on king Ganondorf’s face when Rhoam threw the golden wings on his bed, so soon after his order had been given. 

“You are avenged, sire,” Rhoam announced.

“And by my groom of the chamber no less,” the dying king whispered, before coughing violently.

Out of habit, Rhoam brought him his tea and helped him get in a more comfortable position. But soon he would be the one that others would serve, the one people knelt for. Finally he would have the recognition he deserved, the power he was made for. King Rhoam of Hyrule certainly had a pleasant ring to it.

He glanced at the wings, gold tainted by red blood, and smirked. It hadn’t been so hard to do, in the end.


	3. Each word that you swore

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Link wakes up alone and wounded

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter title from Beautiful Lies by Beyond the Black

It was the dull, pulsing pain in his back that woke Link up. He could not think clearly, could barely move at all. All that came through the fog of his mind was that pain, more and more intense with every passing second, forcing groans out of his lips with each breath he took.

Something was wrong with his wings.

At the cost of immense efforts and more pain, Link reached behind him to grasp them and check what could be wrong. His hands found only empty air, and when he tried to move his wings a monstrous scream escaped his mouth, the hurt so strong it made him sick.

Blinded by tears and that fog still in his mind, Link crawled to the river, blindly trying to get some water on his hands and face. Once he managed, the cold of it brought back some clarity to his thoughts, as if he were finally waking up, but that only made the pulsing ache on his back that much worse.

When he found the strength to look down at his reflection in the water, Link screamed again, horror mixing itself to the agonising pain.

His wings were gone.

He screamed until his voice was raw, until it gave out, until nothing but air came out of his mouth.

As his mind recovered from his odd sleep, so did his body. Minutes passed and the worst of the pain faded, the wounds on his back closing themselves, leaving few traces of his lost limbs save large red scars. The only ache left was the one in his heart, the horror of having lost a part of himself.

No, not lost.

His wings had been  _ stolen _ , Link realised, letting out another silent cry. Someone had taken them from him. Not a woodland creature, for not one of them held any anger against him. He was their protector, their own knight, more efficient than those of Hyrule’s King. And even if one had a dispute with him they wouldn’t have done something so repulsive, so… hylian. His breath caught in his chest.

Where was Rhoam, anyway?

The last Link could remember was the two of them sitting together, tasting some sweet wine, and then… then he’d fallen asleep, safe and happy to have his lover back. But where was Rhoam now? Why hadn’t he been there to prevent this crime? Had he been hurt too, killed maybe… but why would his body have been taken away? Or did he lay somewhere nearby, in pain too, hurt and wounded for trying to protect Link…

It was hard to get up, his body completely out of balance without the familiar weight of his wings. When he tried to take a few steps, he stumbled and fell against the trunk of a tree. But he had to walk, had to find Rhoam. His old friend, his lover, who had finally come back to him after so long.

Rhoam who had warned him the king wanted him dead. Who had given him that wine, so sweet and powerful, going straight to his head when alcohol rarely ever did that. Rhoam who had seen the attack and was now nowhere to be found.

Link rejected the thought his mind was trying to form. Rhoam would never. Rhoam loved him. Something else had happened. Something dreadful. Something that had taken everything from him, his wings and the one he loved. Something that had left him powerless, hardly any better than a hylian.

He could not let anyone see him this way, he realised with horror. He was their protector, their knight, if they saw him this weak they would take fright. He had to hide somewhere until he was better, until he knew what to do.

Slowly, Link pushed against the tree’s bark to give himself momentum as he started walking along the river. A few times he almost fell, shedding tears of rage as he dragged his feet to the only place where no one would see him, an old abandoned shrine standing at the edge of the woods. It had been a place of dark magic in centuries long gone, before the woodland people learned how to live together, and it still frightened most of them. Link himself had only been there a handful of times, unsettled by the taste of the air, too similar to blood.

Once he entered the cold of the shrine, Link collapsed. Here he would be safe, at least for a time.

* * *

For days, Link remained hidden in the old shrine, trying to relearn his body now that it had been so mangled. No one found him there. No one was looking for him, as far as he could tell. Perhaps they thought he was hiding somewhere with Rhoam, making up for lost time. Perhaps they did not care, so long as he’d appear again when the Woods would need protection. The only living thing he saw was a raven that came a few times. Link usually ignored it until on one visit the bird brought him a dead mouse. The kokiri threw a stone at the raven, furious that he might be  _ pitied _ .

Progress was slow for Link, but there was progress nonetheless. After a while he could walk, though he did need a stick on which to support himself, still trying to compensate for a weight no longer on his back. He started wandering out of the woods, hoping he might meet a hylian that would bring news of his wings, of Rhoam.

Instead, at the corner of a field, he found that same raven again, caught in a net, about to be killer by a farmer and his dog. Such was life for birds and all animals, and at other times Link might have ignored that spectacle. That day he couldn't. Not when the raven's wings were flapping desperately against the weight of the net, and it cried helplessly, failing to take flight. If Link had had his sword… But no, he was in no state to fight. Magic was the answer then. He had the skill for it, though he rarely used it. Magic too often had a mind of its own, but since there were no alternative… 

Into a man, he thought, silently mouthing the words. 

Under the net, the raven started expanding, its limbs growing, its back twisting until he stood taller than the peasant tormenting it. The hylian screamed in fear and ran, followed by his howling dog. 

He could hardly be blamed for his terror, because Link's spell had partly failed. Instead of a man, the raven had become a monster. It stood taller than most hylians and while its posture _was_ hylian, it still had a beak and talons, its body was still covered in smooth black feathers. It started inspecting itself, as startled as the farmer, until he caught sight of Link. 

"Did you do this to me?" the raven asked. Link nodded. "How dare you! I was so handsome and now look what you've done to me!" 

Link pointed at the net on the ground, and the raven shivered. 

"I suppose being ugly is better than being dead. Barely. And if you saved me…" the raven groaned, and bent his head. "I, Revali, owe you a life debt. I am your humble servant… Unless you'd like to release me." 

Only hylians forced others into servitude. The habit had gone out of use among the woodland folks. Link raised a hand, ready to dismiss the bird… And didn't. The mere act of walking this far had exhausted him, and he had learned nothing about his tragedy. Yet this raven could fly far away, see many things, listen to rumours… it would be temporary, only until he could find Rhoam who would help him, Link decided. Then he would free the bird from his debt.

He pointed at the castle, and Revali squawked. 

"You want me to go there? Why?" 

Link turned around and raised his tunic, showing the terrible scars on his back. When he turned again, Revali's expression was one of anguish. 

"I'm so sorry," the raven said. "I saw at the shrine you were unwell, but I had no idea…" 

Into a bird, Link thought quickly, repulsed by the pity he saw again in the creature’s eyes. This time the magic worked without problems. The bird looked up at him and croaked as if to point out that had been rude. Again Link pointed at the castle, glaring at the raven until he took to the skies. 

He needed answers, not sympathy. 

* * *

It took Revali a few days to return. Link was starting to wonder if he had been abandoned again when the bird flew into the shrine, croaking and squawking as if there were a snake in his nest. 

Into a man, Link thought with confidence. He had practised using his magic, the only way he could compensate the loss of other skills. Yet when Revali transformed it was in the same monster as before, as though that form had already become fixed for him. 

"You won't like what I have to say," Revali grumbled. "People in Hyrule are celebrating your death." 

That was hardly a surprise. Why take his wings, if not as a trophy? Annoyed by this information he could have guessed himself, Link gestured for Revali to continue. 

"It was an order of the old king," the raven explained, obviously disappointed his crucial news had been dismissed that way. “He’s dead now, by the way. The man who took your wings was crowned and he married the princess. I’ve missed the ceremony but a few people were still drunk and burning effigies of old Ganon, so I guess it was a good party and no one misses him too much.”

It felt right that the old king who had ordered Link’s mutilation had perished. It felt  _ good _ . Now all he needed was to get revenge on the new one too.

“To be fair, I’m not sure the new king is much loved either,” Revali resumed. “He’s just some gutter rat that worked for the old guy. Nobody knows how he managed to kill you, and he won’t say, but with the wings you’ve got to believe it, right? I’m betting some minister will stab him in the back before the year is over, and he shan’t be missed any more than Ganondorf was. Stupid name he’s got, too. King… what was it? King Groan? King Broad? King…”

“Rhoam,” Link hissed, the word burning through his throat.

“Yes, that’s the one! Wait, you can t…”

Into a bird, Link thought. He’d heard enough.

Rhoam had done this to him. His most precious friend, the person he held dearest in the world, the one to whom he would have given the moon without a moment of hesitation. His Rhoam, who had dared to promise true love, who had pretended he was returning to him. And Link had welcomed him! He had allowed that man into his life, ready to give him anything, and Rhoam had taken the only thing that couldn’t be offered to him. And for what? To be  _ king _ ?

Link roared and strode outside of the shrine, red magic crackling at his fingertips. Oh, to have that traitor before him, to hurt him as he had hurt Link! To tear him apart limb by limb, then bring him back together to start again! They could have been _happy_ together. There was nothing Link wouldn’t have given the man he loved. Rhoam could have had his body, his heart, his very soul if he’d only asked and Link would have gifted it all away because he had foolishly trusted this hylian who had sworn True Love to him. And yet none of that had been enough. 

Rhoam had looked at his endless love, and chosen a crown instead.

He would pay dearly for it.

Link had hidden in the shrine long enough. It was time for him to return within the Lost Woods, where no one had missed him, no one had cared for him. Just like Rhoam, the woodland creatures had only taken from him when they needed to, abandoning him in his hour of need. It was time he reminded them how much they owed him.

As he walked among the trees, Revali flying above him, Link heard the gasps and whispers. He saw the horror in the younger kokiri’s eyes, the repulsion of the bokoblin at his mangled body, the fear of koroks at the red magic still crackling at his fingers, bringing darkness around him. After all why should those woods be bathed in light when he, who had given so much for them, had nothing but despair and hatred left? He heard protests that turned to silence when he looked at those who would have rebelled. 

On the river banks, Link looked at the tree against which he’d had to lean when he had first tried to walk without his wings. The grass below it was green and untouched, as if no betrayal had occurred there. Link smirked.

Into a throne, he ordered the tree.

Into a crown, he demanded of the grass, leaving only naked dirt in that place he had suffered so much.

He sat down, triumphant, and a lynel, smarter than the others, brought the dark crown upon his forehead.

So Rhoam had wanted to be king.

Two could play that game.


	4. Let Vengeance roar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A child is born, and Link has a present or two for that little princess

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter title from "Only Us" by miracle of sound

Link’s early rule consisted for the most of him preparing the Lost Woods for a new war he knew would come. If he was rumoured to be dead, the hylians were sure to become bolder and more aggressive. The woodland people would need to match them in that. There could no longer be pity for the monsters outside the plains. Hylians were to be treated with all the necessary violence, regardless of age. After all it was his leniency toward a child that had been his undoing.

This new strategy paid. The first few hylians who tried to come into the woods were slaughtered, their corpses left to rot at the edges of the forest. It displeased some of the woodland creatures and they complained to Link, who made it clear to them they could learn to live with it or go away. Pity and kindness were no longer welcomed around him, not towards the monsters that had hurt so many of his people.

It was odd though that all attacks were by groups of farmers or idle adventurers. Link sent Revali time and time again to Hyrule Castle so he could spy on the preparations for the upcoming war, but the raven never saw anything that might hint at an attack. It did not mean that nothing was being prepared, Link knew. It just meant Rhoam was clever enough to hide it.

Still Revali never came back empty handed. He always brought back rumours of plots against the new king, of the dislike his ministers had for him, of his efforts to get the support of his people and of his queen. She seemed fond enough of him, in spite of their forced match, and before long it became known she was pregnant.

“That means they’re going to have a child,” Revali pointed out. “Hylians can’t pop up in flowers like normal folks, right?”

For that snark Link turned him into a mouse. It did little good, and next time he was given his larger form the birdman was just as irreverent. Revali had offered his services, but respect wasn't part of the package. 

So there would be a child. It meant Rhoam had promised his wife the same lies he had with Link. It meant this woman had known the tenderness of his kisses, the gentleness of his touch, when Link had been given nothing but pain and betrayal. He hated this queen who dared to have what he had once wanted so much, and he hated the child that would be born of a union that owed everything to his despair.

It was Revali again who announced him the child’s birth. A girl, a little princess that they would name Zelda as had once been tradition in the royal family. And as was once tradition, king Rhoam had announced a grand celebration for her Presentation to the Goddesses. Ploys to make his subjects forget he was less than dirt. Yet it could serve Link well enough. In days of old it was normal for representatives of neighbouring countries to come to a royal Presentation. And who better than he to come for the Lost Wood? A king visiting another king. A ghost returning from the dead to haunt Rhoam and undermine what little legitimacy he had. Wasn’t that just the most _ delightful _of ideas?

* * *

The Presentation of princess Zelda was an extraordinary event. Feasts were offered to all who came, rich or poor. There were spectacles, jugglers and actors, dancing bokoblins in chains, elaborate numbers performed by singing birds, and all those who came were quick to praise king Rhoam’s generosity.

It was of course expected that generosity would be repaid in kind by the most powerful guests. In the great hall of the castle the princess’s cradle had been placed with her parents’ thrones, and gift after gift was presented to her. The royal couple accepted them all with extreme grace, until three odd creatures came before them, monsters that had the king reaching for his sword within seconds. With one calm gesture, his wife stopped him.

“I took the pain of inviting them,” she explained, one hand on her husband’s arm. “Just because the Lost Woods have caused us such problems doesn’t mean we cannot leave a chance to our other less civilised neighbours. Please, my dear. They bring gifts, it would be rude.”

One of the creatures, a woman taller than any hylians in the room, stepped forward. She was a gerudo, the people among which king Ganondorf had been born and which he had left for better prospects in Hyrule. Thieves, people called them, but she ignored the way hylians around her started clutching their purses and came to stand in front of the crib.

“My name is Urbosa, champion of the gerudo,” she said, addressing the infant before her. “I bring you this day a blessing. You, little princess of the rainy lands, will have intelligence beyond your peers. So I say and so it shall be.”

With a flick of her hand, Urbosa allowed golden light to surround the cradle. The king and queen did not thank her and exchanged a look, unsure what good such a gift would do for a princess whose only fate would be to marry someday. Urbosa bowed to them and stepped back, only to be replaced by the next creature, a fish-like being who looked into the cradle and smiled.

“My name is Mipha, champion of the zora,” she told the baby. “And I too bring you a blessing. It is good to be intelligent, but that alone isn’t enough. Little princess of the lands, I gift you with curiosity, that you may never see anything unknown and not desire to understand it. So I say, and so it shall be.”

“That sounds more like a curse than a blessing!” Rhoam protested, but already golden light surrounded his daughter and the deed was done. “You three had better hope the last gift is a good one, or you will regret it.”

Mipha was confused by that rejection of her present, but quickly left her place to her last companion, a rock being that loomed heavily above the cradle and dared not touch it.

“My name is Daruk, champion of the goron,” he said, his voice booming so loud that tears started appearing in the infant’s eyes. “Here is the final blessing I guess. Little princess of flesh and blood, I give your resilience in the face of hardship, so nothing will discourage you. So I say and so it shall…”

The golden light had appeared already, but was interrupted when the doors of the great hall opened and slammed against the nearby walls, making the very ground shake. Two dark figures appeared in the doorframe. One was a tall, monstrous birdman dressed in black armour, and yet it was his companion that truly captured people’s attention. He was a small man with a dark walking stick, skin pale as death and hair so light as to be gray, dressed in robes of black so pure as to appear made of void, and with eyes of a bright, burning red that looked at nothing but the king. He smirked at the sight of Rhoam grasping the arms of his throne, face turning grayer with each step the stranger took.

“Make way!” Revali ordered, pushing anyone who stood before his master. “Make way for the great Link, Knight of the Lost Woods, King of the woodland people!”

Oblivious to the violence of his servant, Link walked slowly, delighting in unnerving the one who had betrayed him. He only stopped once he reached the cradle, but ignored the baby inside. All that mattered was Rhoam and how panicked he looked.

“His majesty Link of the Lost Woods is so sorry he could not be there in time,” Revali announced, coming to stand behind his master. “He sadly never received his invitation.”

Rhoam’s grip on his throne tightened, his knuckles turning white.

“None was sent. You are not welcome here, monsters.”

Link brought a hand to his mouth in mock shock, before letting out a soundless laughter and motioning for Revali to continue.

“His majesty Link of the Lost Woods, in his immense kindness, will not hold those words against you, a mere barbarian hylian. Instead, his majesty will show you what true generosity and honour are, and he will make a gift to the young princess.”

Rhoam jumped to his feet. Link smirked at him, taking one last step to look into the cradle, although he hardly paid attention to the child inside. He only wanted to make Rhoam’s fear rise again by a few degrees, and prepare himself to say the words he needed. His life had been mostly silent since the loss of his wings but for this… for this he had to get things right and magic was unreliable when he was silent.

“Little princess of the hylians, here is my blessing,” he proclaimed in a voice hoarse from lack of use. “You will indeed grow to be clever and curious. You will have an inner strength all will envy. As suits a princess, I also gift you beauty and a heart so pure all those who meet you will love you.”

He paused and looked at the royal couple. The poor queen smiled weakly at him. “Well, that… that sounds lovely. Thank you for…”

Raising a hand, Link interrupted her and smirked.

“It is lovely. Too much, perhaps. Then hear the rest of her fate. Before the sun sets on her seventeenth birthday, the princess will bring an ocarina to her lips and the instant she blows the first note she shall fall into a sleep like death from which she may never awake.”

Red light engulfed the cradle and the king and queen screamed, as did several of the guests. Link laughed, taking in their despair and revelling in it.

“I beg you, do not do this,” Rhoam implored him. “She’s only a child.”

Link sniggered, joined by Revali behind him.

“It’s nice when he begs,” the birdman cackled. “You should ask him to do it again, master.”

The idea was so nice that Link had to nod in agreement, both hands on his walking sticks, smirking at the hylian king. Rhoam hesitated, glancing at his guests, knowing as well as Link did that his pride would never recover from this. But to allow his own daughter to be cursed out of pride who only make him hated instead of despised.

Rhoam fell to his knees. “Please. I beg you, please, do not condemn her.”

Link laughed again, and forced sounds out of his throat once more. “As you like. My curse still stands, but I will allow one cure. If the princess receives a True Love’s kiss, she shall awake from her slumber. So I say and so it shall be, for all eternity! Enjoy my mercy, king of the hylians.”

Red flames surrounded him and the cradle, making the infant princess cry while Link cackled madly, letting the magic flow out of him raw and unchecked so that nothing in the world might ever have the power to undo his curse. When the flames disappeared he was exhausted beyond anything he’d ever known, but that was a small price for the satisfaction of having destroyed everything Rhoam had betrayed him for.

He barely noticed the guards called to grab him, the clamour of the guests, the wailing of the queen, Revali grabbing him with his talons and carrying him away.

All he could see were Rhoam’s tears of rage, more precious than any jewel in the world.


	5. Let the cruel consume the just

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> taking care of a baby is hard

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title from Only Us by Miracle of Sound

In spite of the efforts deployed, the self proclaimed king of the Lost Woods had disappeared without a trace save the sorrow he had thrown upon the kingdom. The great hall had emptied, all the guests either helping with the search or eager to avoid the fallout of what had happened. The only ones still in the vast room were Rhoam and his family, the queen crying and clutching to her baby daughter. She had not said a word against him, hadn’t shown anger at his lies. In the shadow of her terrible father she had been trained to be kind and silent, but each of her sobs resounded to Rhoam’s ears as a new insult that he would have deserved.

It had been so easy to cut off Link’s wings and hope the wound would kill him. Now Rhoam regretted not slitting his throat. He should have done it instead of being _noble_ for the sake of nostalgia.

The doors opened again. Rhoam drew his sword while his wife jumped behind him, hoping he might protect her this time. But instead of a kokiri demon back for more cruel games, the three foreign champions who had also forced their unwanted blessings upon the princess came in, looking distraught.

“We looked everywhere and used every magic we know,” Urbosa announced. “That creature is gone. We have talked among ourselves and if you so desire, we will go after it and bring it back to you, no matter where it is hiding.”

“You’ve done enough damage,” Rhoam retorted, waving his sword at her. “Go back to whence you came from and never again set foot in _ my _kingdom. I’ve had enough of monsters and magic for a lifetime.”

The gerudo glared at him while Mipha took a step forward.

“If I may, your majesty? We do want to help. We gave her gifts. We are very different but for each of us that comes with a responsibility to the child. If we can do anything to help…”

Putting away his sword, Rhoam sighed. “Unless you can hide her until her seventeenth birthday has passed, never allowing her near any musical instruments…” He paused, considering the idea before turning to them. “_Could_ you do that?”

The three champions exchanged nervous glances.

“Seventeen years is a long time,” Urbosa carefully pointed out. “We have our own responsibilities, our own lives…”

“And my daughter would have a life of her own too, had she not been cursed. Of course, you noticed that the monster incorporated your… _gifts_ into his own magic. I wonder how responsible that make you.”

Rhoam watched carefully as horror and guilt and indignation made their way onto their face, before resignation settled in. Barbarians, stupid enough to believe in honour and promises.

“You cannot give away our baby,” his wife meekly protested behind him. “If we keep her here, safe…”

“Until that monster decides he’s done waiting and come for her, looking for a quicker way to kill her! Give her to them. You’ll have other children you can raise, strong sons to continue our line, but this one… this one you should forget.”

Mipha walked to the queen, smiling sadly as she opened her arms to be given the child. “We will take great care of her, your majesty. We’ll try to turn her into a princess you shall be proud of!”

One last time the queen threw a desperate look at her husband, holding her child close to her heart. Rhoam, arms crossed, wasn’t looking at her, muttering to himself as he made plans against their new enemy, grumbling they would have to destroy all ocarinas in existence. The queen, vanquished, gave the child to Mipha, hands lingering in the air even after the zora turned away from her to rejoin the other champions.

* * *

It was Urbosa’s idea that they should find themselves a place near the Lost Woods, as that would be the last place the Knight would think of searching. After some asking around, they found an abandoned little cottage just at the edge of the forest, and they decided to settle there.

“It doesn’t look very solid,” Daruk noted, dropping baby Zelda on a tree stump to better inspect what would be his home for the years to come. “What’s with the tiny doors? I can’t even go through that and neither can you, Urbosa.”

“We’ll remodel. It’ll give you something to do.”

“It’s very dry here,” Mipha protested softly, rubbing a hand against her arm.

“I find it too humid,” Urbosa retorted. “If nobody’s happy then we have a good compromise, don’t we? And I think there’s a river not far, you can go have a dip sometimes. Now let’s check what’s inside.”

All three of them did their best to pass a door that only Mipha was comfortably sized for. It took them a moment to remember the baby, and only because she started crying. Mipha ran to get her and brought her into the house, putting her onto the table.

“Why is it making that noise?” Daruk asked. “It’s loud.”

“She’s crying. Hylian babies do that to get attention,” Mipha explained without sounding to convinced. “Well little one, we’re here. We’re listening. What do you want?”

Urbosa sighed, and took the infant in her arms, rocking it with force. “It doesn’t speak yet. Won’t for years if it’s like gerudo. Has neither of you ever seen a child before?”

The other two exchanged a look.

“Goron children are made from rocks imbued with magic,” Daruk claimed with a nod, as if to indicate that was the only sensible way to be born. “They can talk immediately and do everything like a normal person, only smaller.”

“And I’ve never seen a baby before,” Mipha admitted. “Tadpoles usually stick to the underwater nurseries until they’re big enough to breathe air too, and by then they can at least sign to talk.”

Urbosa glared at them, annoyed that she would be the only competent one. Not that it was helping her much at the moment. Her brutal rocking, that would have calmed any solid gerudo child, only made the princess cry louder.

“Maybe she’s hungry,” Mipha suggested. “It was a long travel to here. You said there’s a river, I’ll try to go catch her a fish.”

“No, I am pretty sure babies need milk,” Urbosa grumbled. “But there’s not one of us that can give her that. Maybe we need to get a cow. Let’s go to the nearest farm and see if we can buy one.”

“Do we take her?” Daruk asked.

The question had Urbosa hesitate. A gerudo child, even this young, could have been left alone. They were a tough kind, made for surviving anything, and gerudo infants had been known to kill snakes or rats that had tried to get inside their cradles. Somehow hylian babies seemed a little more fragile than that. But it they brought the child along, they’d have to hear it cry all the way and that would get old very fast.

“No, she can stay here. We won’t be long anyway.”

The other two seemed equally relieved that they wouldn’t have to deal with that noise for a couple hours and didn’t question her decision. They left their new home, leaving behind them the screaming baby.

* * *

That screaming was what attracted Link’s attention. A day or two had passed since the Presentation, he had recovered from the use of magic and from having to speak, however so briefly. But there was wailing coming from somewhere near the forest, and that was getting on his nerves. It happened sometimes that hylians abandoned their infants there, to be taken by the woodland people or more likely devoured by wolves. He sent Revali to investigate that state of affair, only for the birdman to return a little too cheerful.

“Found the little princess,” he announced. “All alone, in that old cottage near the edge. Maybe they didn’t feel like waiting for your curse to kill her. Felt like being proactive, I guess.”

Link gritted his teeth at the news. How dare they! They would not escape his revenge. He’d raise that child himself if need be, just for the satisfaction of watching her be lost to her people and so Rhoam would be forced to face the consequences of his actions.

He had Revali lead him to the little princess, and found her exactly as the birdman had described, alone in a cold, ruined house, crying her lungs out. Starving and scared, if Link had to hazard a guess. He reached out to take her in his arms as he would for a sobbing kokiri or a baby bokoblin, but stopped himself in time. This was not a creature he could pity. This little horror, this ugly plucked _cucco_ was the instrument of his revenge and nothing more.

“Really, look at that poor thing,” Revali grunted, and _he_ had no qualms about holding her, making sure to support the baby’s head as if he’d done this all his life. “Hylians have no heart. Don’t worry little one, you’re ugly and loud but we’ll find someone to take care of you.”

While the birdman tried his best to calm the child, Link took a look around. It soon became clear to him that whoever had brought the baby there might not have been hylian. The traces in the dirt outside were all wrong, the doorframe had been recently scratched as if by rocks, and saw some bring red hair stuck to a nail above the door. His thoughts went to the three creatures that had been there at the Presentation, gifting blessings to the princess. No sooner had he remembered them that he saw them outside, coming towards the cottage with a cow.

He turned back to Revali who, with enough cooing and gentle rocking, had managed to calm the baby a little. Link grabbed the child and put it back on the table before dragging his servant to the back door so they might escape without being seen. The child was not abandoned after all, and that was what mattered. That princess would grow to be destroyed by his rage.

* * *

Link was not the only one seeking revenge. After his coronation, Rhoam had wanted to leave the Lost Woods in peace for a while as he enjoyed his new life, and so new recruits could be trained after the disaster and the losses of Ganondorf’s last battle. But after Link’s attack on his daughter, after being forced to _ beg _, the king could not stay inactive. He raised an army to march on the Lost Woods, ready to prove on the battlefield that he was worthy of his title.

But there would be no battle. Even as they were marching towards the enemy, Rhoam and his men could see a high, dark wall being raised around the woods. Not walls of brick or dirt, as they discovered upon arriving, but thick, impenetrable thorns that resisted fire and axes. A new trick of the Knight, another one designed to humiliate Rhoam. The king who was defeated by thorns, they would call him if he did not find a way into the Lost Woods.

But he’d find a way, discover the knight’s hiding place and when he’d have him at his mercy, Rhoam would not hesitate again to slaughter him like the beast he was.

* * *

Without ever been asked too, Revali kept track of princess Zelda and her caretakers, frequently reporting to Link. The kokiri knew he could and should have told his servant to stop, but the ineptitude of the three champions in caring for the young of another species was too fascinating. 

“They feed her cow milk!” Revali complained each time. “And they leave her alone and barely pick her up! That’s all wrong!”

Link, sitting on the ground of the shrine and practising magic, raised an eyebrow to ask since when his birdman had become such an expert in child rearing.

“I’m a raven, we’re curious. If you wanted someone who’d just obey you and never wonder about anything, you should have saved a pigeon. But cow milk! And they can’t figure out why she’s always sick! I’d get her a proper nurse if I could, instead of leaving her with three incompetents who wouldn’t find their own ass with both hands.”

While Link felt nowhere near as passionately on the subject, he had to agree that something needed to be done if he did not want the little princess to die of exposure before his curse could strike her. They could not take her to a nurse, nor bring one to her. It would have been too suspicious, and the champions would have reported it to Rhoam.

With an angry flick of the hand, Link turned a dried stick into a black rose, with thorns sharp as razors, then promptly returned it to its initial form before it could take root. How to make sure the child was fed and cared for? _ He _couldn’t be caught doing it because it would be mistaken for remorse. He wouldn’t do it regardless, because he hated that little plucked cucco and would sooner have strangled her than given her milk.

Tilting his head, he observed Revali who was still complaining about the three champions. Maybe if he were in his bird form, small and capable of going anywhere undetected… and it wouldn’t be hard to create a liquid fit for hylian consumption.

Into a bird, Link thought with a smirk. It was always much easier to give orders when Revali couldn’t argue with him.

* * *

In the dark of the night the cottage was quiet, save for the soft wailings of the baby in her crib. Without trouble Revali flew through an open widow, passing by the sleeping shapes of the champions and entering the child’s room. The little thing let out a startled cry at his sudden arrival, but she soon calmed once he let her suckle onto the magical flower Link had created. Hylian milk and something to ease her stomach after eating the wrong food for days, the Knight had said. It worked and she ate greedily, her small hands clutching the flower with all the desperation of a hungry child.

That had been all Revali was asked to do. Give the flower to the child and leave it there, then return in a few days to make sure the champions hadn’t taken away the flower and that the magic hadn’t run out. If Link had been around, he’d have left it at that. But the Knight was skulking in his shrine, while Revali was there in front of a neglected baby, and he’d been raised better than that.

With all the care in the world the raven grabbed one corner of the baby’s quilt in his beak and gently brought it over her, tucking her neatly so she wouldn’t be cold.She let go of the flower, her eyelids becoming too heavy to keep her eyes open. With a little encouragement she would finally get some proper sleep and Revali was more than willing to help, pushing against the side of the crib with all the strength his current body had so he could rock her. He kept going even after she appeared to have fallen asleep, just for security, then flew back to his master.

When he didn’t find him at the shrine, Revali flew along the thorn edge until he spotted Link hiding among the plants, unleashing his magic against another hylian incursion. This time their aggressors had brought with them balls of blue fire that they were throwing at the thorns, but before the could do any real damage Link had summoned a storm to quench the flames. The winds and the rain were so powerful Revali had to land on a hurry, close enough to his master to see how he was enjoying this outpouring of power flowing out of him. Well, enjoying was maybe the wrong word for the way the kokiri’s features twisted into a mad smile when lightning joined the show, aimed at the unlucky hylians who hadn’t run fast enough.

Some master he’d found himself. Someday that boy would self destruct in a rageful fit of magic, and Revali would just have to hope he wouldn't be close enough to be destroyed too. 

* * *

Rhoam struck the wounded sheikah across the face as punishment for another failure. Impa gritted her teeth but said nothing. 

"You said that fire would work!" the king roared. "You said it could burn through anything!" 

"It brought a storm upon us, your majesty," she retorted. "We had no way of knowing…" 

Another slap hit her, hard enough to make her nose bleed. 

"Find a way then!” Rhoam shouter, waving a dagger near her face. “What good are you sheikahs if you cannot a single wingless kokiri?”

A kokiri he was meant to have already killed, she did not say, yet Rhoam still saw the reproach in her eyes. He saw it on all the faces around him wherever he went. He had become king for killing the beast that terrorized them. If he wanted to keep his throne, he had to finish what he had started.

In a rageful gesture, the king jabbed his dagger into the table upon which the battle plans had been drawn. This was all Link’s fault. If the little monster had just died from his wounds… If he’d stayed in his forest without bothering anyone… Rhoam _ might _have left the Lost Woods alone. He certainly had considered that option. He was merciful and kind after all, unlike Ganondorf who had been ready to sell his own daughter for revenge. He was a good king, he was a good husband, he would have been a good father and what was he getting for that? Curses and traitors.

As he thought of the unfairness of his fate, Rhoam’s eyes fell on his dagger stuck in the wood. A simple iron dagger, perfectly ordinary save for a certain glint to it that hinted it also contained malice. Most weapons did these days.

He pulled the blade out of the table, turning to Impa with a smile that had her step back.

“Have all the iron workers in town gathered,” Rhoam ordered. “And find me magicians too. We _ will _destroy that monster.”


	6. Your world is tumbling down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zelda grows up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter title from Our Farewell by Withing temptation

There was hardly ever a night when Revali did not go check on the little princess, even when he was not ordered to. On occasions he even neglected his other duties towards Link, refusing to justify his absences. The kokiri was forced to follow him one evening to discover his secret, and couldn’t decide if he found it amusing or vexing that his own servant was so devoted to that child.

There certainly was something tender about seeing the raven make such efforts to care for a hylian child, Link decided, having entered the cottage to spy some more. It certainly was funny to see the bird exhaust himself to rock the crib of a child heavier than he was.

“It certainly is an ugly little thing,” Link stated in a hoarse voice, delighting in the way Revali jumped and flapped his wings in surprise. “A dreadful little plucked cucco.”

Revali croaked in protest.

“A devoted father,” Link mocked, bracing himself against the crib’s sides to better look at the thing that had cost him so much. It was pudgy and shapeless, little better than a worm with arms and a few strands of golden hair on top of its head. Link smirked at the little monster who answered it with a delighted smile.

Link stepped back as if he’d been hit.

Stupid little cucco, he thought, glaring at the child who didn’t know she should fear him. It would be easy to _teach_ her that fear. To turn her into a real worm and throw her among the chickens her guardians at bought. If he hadn’t been so keen on seeing his curse fulfilled, he might have.

A noise coming from inside the house startled Link and Revali who quickly left before they could be spotted. Link scolded Revali for his divided loyalties, but as always he was ignored. Revali might have been his servant, but he made it clear he was no slave.

* * *

The child, in spite of her guardians, grew, under Link’s constant watch. For if he had thought that the three champions might handle a toddler better than they did an infant, he was soon proven wrong. Neither of the three could figure out how to deal with a creature so fragile and, used to the young of their own people, they allowed her to roam free as soon as she knew how to walk. That was a dangerous allowance for a child gifted with great curiosity, and many times Link or Revali had to swoop in to save her. The first did so from the shadows, sending roots and branches to catch Zelda if she fell from heights, stopping the flow of the river near the cottage so she would not drown. But Revali saw no reason to hide when he was a bird, flying around her to distract her from her guardians’ weapons, croaking at her and hopping around to play so she wouldn’t eat the poisonous berries she found. It was a consuming task to keep that little thing alive and unless another attack from Rhoam’s forces was underway, Link spent most of his time around the cottage.

Not that Zelda was his only concern, nor even his main one, he frequently told himself. The cottage stood inside woods that, by tradition, had never been part of the Lost Wood and thus were fair game for hylians to use and abuse. The trees there suffered under axes, the animals were hunted and trapped. Link liked to go around and right some of those wrongs. Traps in particular he hated, the pain and blood too keen a reminder of what he had suffered himself not so long ago. The kokiri, who had no qualms in slaughtering the hylians who attacked his kingdom, was gentle with foxes and rabbits, freeing them and healing their wounds, warning them to be more careful in the future.

He was making his rounds one morning, Revali flying not far behind him, when a little voice called out for him.

“Hello!”

That little cucco of a princess was standing there on the path, looking up at him without any fear. Link hissed at the child who only smiled as she always did. Worse, she stepped closer, wobbling on tiny legs until she could grab his robes, pulling on them.

“Up!” she chirped. Link did not answer, and she pulled harder on his clothes. “Up, up!”

With a growing distress at her lack of fear, Link glanced at Revali who only cackled, very amused by that turn of events. Not knowing what else to do to get rid of the little cucco, Link bent over to pick her in his arms as she demanded. Zelda giggled in delight and started a careful inspection of his tunic, touching the black leather of it, tracing the silver decorations with her fingers. Satisfied with that, she poked at his cheeks, at his ears as pointy as her own.

“Up!” she asked again, until Link raised her enough to pat his silver crown. She pulled it up, laughing when it came easily and letting it fall again slightly askew on the kokiri’s head.

Satisfied with her inspection, Zelda wiggled until Link put her back on the ground and she trotted away, back to her guardians.

Link watched her go, unsure what to make of that. It had been years since anyone (save Revali) had treated him with anything but absolute terror. Even the woodland creatures did not dare cross his path if they could avoid it, as if they feared his rage might turn against them next time. And yet this child, this little nothing of a plucked cucco, thought him nothing but a curious creature to be inspected. It was certainly humbling.

* * *

As the years passed, Zelda became everything the blessings had promised her. She was a pretty young girl, intelligent beyond her years and eager to learn about all the things that surrounded her. The older she became, the easier it was for her guardians to deal with her. They were happy to answer all her questions about their respective countries and their people, glad for a chance to talk about the places they missed so dearly and had lost for her sake. They told her that they had found her abandoned on a road, and had decided to adopt her as their own because all hylians were ignoring her. It had cost them much to leave their old lives behind, but they assured her that they did not regret it and this much certainly was true by then.

But Zelda’s curiosity was not limited to the three champions who were raising her. She wanted to know about the castle in the distance, tall and foreboding. She wanted to know about the nearby village they so rarely let her visit. Most of all she wondered about the wall of thorns near their cottage, and what might lay behind. It was one of the very few subjects her guardians were loathe to tell her about, simply stating there was a magical kingdom on the other side, one forbidden to all mortals for it was most dangerous. They had thought such a threat would deter her.

But of course, it only made her more interested in the thorns. Hardly a day passed that she didn’t walk to them, vainly trying to find an opening into them. There had to be one, she had determined, for the king’s soldiers who camped near the edge had told her that a terrible monster sometimes came from the kingdom within to attack them. That of course meant if she often came to the camp, she might witness the way that monster came through the wall, perhaps she might even be able to follow it inside. And in the meanwhile she could study the birds that lived there, so much more colourful than those of other places, as well as the hares who had dug under the wall and which were plump and trusting enough she could pet them sometimes.

Link observed her efforts with something akin to amusement. The little cucco was not the only hylian to feel curious about the Lost Woods, but she was the only one to never try and _force_ her way inside, instead waiting patiently for a chance he was determined not to give her. No hylians had set foot inside the Lost Wood for over sixteen years and it would stay that way, though it might have been interesting to see how someone as inquisitive would react to the wonders of his kingdom.

It was a huge inconvenience when Link spotted the princess near the soldiers’ camp one afternoon as they were about to launch an attack on the wall of thorns, one he had to counter. He usually dealt with them by unleashing all of his powers to destroy them as a warning to Rhoam and a reminder of his power to all who might doubt him. But with the princess so near, he’d have to be careful lest he killed her on accident.

“Oh no, you might have to use _subtlety_,” Revali scoffed at his side.

Link glared, but the birdman only laughed, both of them knowing the kokiri needed his servant too much to punish his insolence as he might have with others.

Which was not to say there would be no consequences. Link smiled to himself and glanced at Revali, so sure of his immunity. Into a wolf, he decided, watching the birdman fall on all four. The large wolf still had feathers and bird feet, but of course that was just how all of Revali’s transformations went since the first botched one. It only made him a more terrifying monster, one that Link launched upon the group of soldiers before looking at the princess near the wall of thorns. _Let her sleep_, he decided, with a flick of his hand to lift her above what was sure to be a gruesome battle.

“Do that again and I’ll bite you,” Revali grumbled once all the soldiers were dead or had fled. “A _dog_! How dare you!”

Link crossed his arms and tilted his head, unable to contain a grin. It was so easy to rile up the birdman, although he felt he was being judged unfairly. Surely a wolf was a little better than a dog.

“What will it be next time if you’ll make me sink to the level of a dog? A worm? A horse? If you turn me into a _horse_, I swear…”

The birdman’s outrage had Link laughing for a moment, before smirking and tapping one finger on his cheek to signify he would absolutely consider that idea some other time. Revali huffed, but Link could see traces of a smile at the corner of his beak.

“And what will you do with that one?” Revali asked, pointing at the floating princess. “Got tired of waiting so you put her to sleep already? Or do you think your little curse won’t...”

The kokiri rolled his eyes as he turned his servant back into a bird, the only way to get him silent.

What to do with the princess indeed? Link should have taken her back to the cottage and be done with it… except she would only return to the wall of thorn the next day and look again for a passage. But perhaps if she were given a glimpse of the Lost Woods her curiosity would be satisfied and she would know to keep away. After all, the woods had lost much of their old magnificence under Link’s rule, growing as dark as their king’s heart, as gloomy as his soul. Nothing they contained would bring the little cucco much pleasure, and she’d learn to stay in her place.

If the Lost Woods at the height of their glory had not been enough to touch her father’s heart, what power would they have now?

* * *

Zelda opened her eyes and saw the night sky above her, stars peeking through the branches of trees. It was not a first for her. She had often fallen asleep outside the cottage, tired from a day of exploring or simply for the joy of feeling soft grass under her. But when she sat up and looked around, she found herself in a place she had never seen before. Never before had she seen trees so tall and large, nor a river that sang so beautifully as it flowed by her, fireflies dancing above its waters.

But were they even fireflies? Zelda had never seen any so big, nor so organised. She jumped to her feet to investigate that matter, and gasped. These were not fireflies but tiny little winged creatures involved in a complex ballet that only stopped when they spotted her and flew away in a panic. She felt deeply sorry to have disturbed them and walked away from the water so they would be free to start again. There were plenty of other things to see anyway. Between the roots of a large oak she noticed two creatures shaped like huge seeds with tiny limbs that wore masks made of large leaves, chattering together with much animation. Not wanting a repeat of the fireflies-like beings, Zelda stayed as still as she could as she watched them, wishing dearly she had papers to draw them and take notes about them. But they too eventually noticed her when one glanced her way, and they scampered so fast she could not see where they had gone.

So this was a place were hylians were not welcome, she deducted. A place full of beautiful trees with dark bark where a river flowed, and where magical creatures could be found.

“The Lost Woods!” she gasped, giggling to herself. At last she was past the wall of thorns! She did not know how she had arrived there, nor could she figure out how she would leave again, but it mattered little when finally fate was giving her a chance to explore this place she had dreamed of so often.

She started walking around, careful to be silent enough she wouldn’t frighten the woodland creatures, observing them from a distance, hiding whenever there was a risk they might see her. The longer she looked at them, the more she had a feeling she too was being watched until, finally, she spotted a shadow among the foliage.

“Come out!” Zelda said with a smile. “I won’t hurt you!”

Silence was her only answer, yet the shadow remained. She opened her palms and rose them to the level of her shoulders to show she was unarmed.

“Please do come. Don’t be afraid!”

“I am not afraid,” a hoarse voice slowly answered her.

“Then come out,” Zelda insisted with a small laughter, delighted to have found someone who could speak her language.

There was silence again, as if the shadow were hesitant.

“If I come out, then _ you’ll _be afraid,” the voice warned her.

A rustle of leaves followed. A young man stepped out of the dark with a tall staff to help him walk, wearing robes as black as night itself and a silver crown on his silver hair, his bright eyes the colour of blood.

Zelda clapped her hands, smiling widely.

“I know who you are!” she exclaimed with glee. The man looked at her in surprise, tilting his head at this unexpected reaction. “You’re my fairy godfather!” Zelda said with absolute assurance. “You’ve been following me my whole life! I’ve seen your eyes, wherever I went. I know you have been protecting me!”

The man’s red eyes widened at that declaration, as though he had thought his presence in her life a secret. But she remembered him perfectly, just as she knew the raven that came to perch on his staff, a bird that she had played with so often. Surely they were the reason she had finally been allowed inside the woods!

“I am so happy to finally meet you!” Zelda said, running to hug him.

She was asleep before she could touch Link. The kokiri had panicked at the thought of any physical contact. How could she be this innocently happy to see him? She had been gifted with such intelligence, and yet she was stupid enough to not have understood the danger Link posed for her. But of course if she didn’t know of the curse… Still perched on his staff, Revali cackled at this case of mistaken identities. Link could not even blame him. For that little cucco to be so mistaken about his intentions was certainly entertaining. Him, protecting that girl he wanted to see destroyed!

He would laugh at it later. For now, it was time to bring that little idiot to her guardians, and never have to see her again until his curse took effect. After all she had seen the Lost Woods in all their decadence now, her curiosity had to be satisfied. Why would she ever come again to the wall of thorns, knowing the world inside was no better than her own?


	7. A legacy of memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zelda returns to the lost woods

Zelda woke up in her bed, but she did not stay there for long. She jumped to her feet, put on a shirt and trousers in which she could move easily, grabbed a notebook, and ran to the wall of thorns. She had found a way inside the night before. She had seen its creatures. She had even met her fairy godfather, who she’d long suspected existed without ever managing to prove conclusively. Certainly her guardians had always denied such a being was looking over her, but soon she would be able to prove them wrong.

She rushed to the soldiers’ camp, the last place she could remember before she awoke inside the Lost Woods. To her dismay, Zelda found the place ravaged and the men gone. So the monster had attacked after all. There had been a scream before she fell asleep. If the monster had been there, perhaps her fairy godfather had been forced to bring her inside the Lost Woods to protect her. When she observed the claw marks on the ground and the traces of fire left on a few pieces of armour, Zelda could only be grateful to the kokiri who had saved her. On the other hand, that also meant he might not allow her inside again unless she was in danger.

But as she turned to look again for an entry point, Zelda saw her godfather again. He was standing in front of the wall of thorns, the raven on his shoulder. He was frowning and staring at her in a way that would have been unnerving if it had been anyone else. But Zelda knew him, trusted him.

“You’re back!” she exclaimed. “I’m so glad! I wanted to see you again, and to see the Lost Woods too. Do you think I might be allowed back inside? I know they do not trust hylians, but I promise to be on my best behaviour. I won’t touch anything without permission, I won’t bother anyone… I just want to see them again!”

The kokiri’s frown deepened, his expression almost turning into a glare. Zelda half regretted asking for such a favour, but before she could retract the kokiri motioned for her to come closer. He waved at his walking stick, and the thorns opened to make a passage. Zelda ran ahead without noticing the doubt on the kokiri’s face, too excited for a new chance to explore the place that had fascinated her as long as she remembered.

Even in daylight, there was a gloomy light to the Lost Woods, a darkness that even the sun couldn’t dispel. Zelda hurriedly wrote that down on her notebook, wondering what could cause this when it had been so sunny on the other side of the thorns. An effect of magic perhaps? It might also explain the darker coloration of trees, even those of species that looked normal on the other side of the wall. Zelda took a few steps toward a tree, but stopped herself to look back at her protector. She had promised she wouldn’t do anything without his permission, and she would keep her word.

“I want to look at the trees, is that fine? Or are there places where you want to take me instead? I’d be delighted with anything you would show me, I’m sure of that!”

The kokiri hesitated and opened his mouth to say something, but no sound came out. He tried again a few times with as little success, until the raven left his shoulder to hop on the grass, croaking and looking up expectantly. Red light surrounded the bird, forcing Zelda to press a hand against her mouth to contain a scream as it quickly turned into a tall monster with half human features.

“Miss Zelda, a pleasure to finally properly meet you,” the creature said with a deep bow. “My name is Revali, and I serve the King of the Lost Woods. It is my tragic duty to inform you that his majesty can’t really talk, and so I’ll have to be the one to answer most of your questions.”

“But he spoke last night...”

“It comes and goes. I think he was too surprised not to say something then,” Revali explained with an amused glance at his master who rolled his eyes. “But for now he’s back to his charming silent self. Don’t worry, my conversation is _ far _superior anyway.”

Zelda couldn’t help a giggle at how dramatic Revali sounded. Thankfully he did not mind, and even winked at her.

“I did not know the Lost Wood had a king,” she noted. “In the books I’ve read…”

“We’re at war,” Revali explained. He glanced at the wall of thorn, as did his master. “There didn’t use to be need for a king, but these days… these days the Lost Woods need all the protection they can get. But don’t you worry about that. Go see the trees, I don’t think there's any harm in that?”

The birdman looked again at his king who nodded. Glad she had permission to investigate, Zelda approached a massive oak and started inspecting it closely. Its bark was almost black, but she could see no trace of actual disease or parasites that could have caused it. Even its leaves were the darker shade of green she had ever seen, and their shape had enough irregularities she thought it worthwhile to sketch one. She was almost done when she heard a little trill at her side, and discovered she was surrounded by small beings wearing leaf masks.

“Well, hello there,” she saluted them as politely as she could. “Is this your tree? I found it very interesting and I had to take a closer look, I hope you don’t mind.”

The small creatures trilled and chirped, none of them appearing particularly angry at her intrusion.

“Would you mind if I drew you too?” Zelda asked the closest one, who was inspecting her notebook. “You have a very beautiful mask, I want to keep a memory of it.” 

The creature chirped something at her.

“She likes your hair,” Revali translated. “It’s a nice colour. They’re koroks, by the way. Spirits of the forest. They’re not very bright, but they like to play and most other woodland creatures find them a delightful nuisance.”

Several of the koroks protested that, and one, a little braver than the others, trotted to the King and pulled on his robes to complain. Revali and his master stared at each other until the birdman sighed, defeated.

“Fine. The koroks are lovely little things, everyone loves them, they have never annoyed anyone by hiding in inconvenient places.” The koroks chirped their agreement, and Revali rolled his eyes. “They also don’t have _any_ sense of sarcasm.”

Zelda chuckled at that, and got back to work. With some help from Revali, she managed to sketch a few of the koroks and ask them questions about their lives. They were a very chatty bunch and the morning passed so quickly that Zelda had no idea of the time until her stomach rumbled loud enough to scare some of the forest spirits.

“Guess it’s time for you to go home and eat,” Revali teased.

“No, I’m fine!” Zelda protested, turning to her godfather. “Please, can I stay a little longer?”

The kokiri tilted his head. There was again a frown on his face, but the expression was softer than when Zelda had last paid attention to him. He sighed, and came to kneel near her, making some trilling noises at the koroks without any hesitation. Perhaps it was only Hylian that posed him a problem, Zelda wondered, making a mental note of that information she dared not write down yet.

At the apparent order of their king, a few of the koroks disappeared. They returned after only a few minutes, carrying fruits and nuts that they dropped on Zelda’s lap. Lunch had been served. She shared it with Revali who turned out to have been as famished as her. The koroks however were not interested in eating (They live off sunlight, Revali informed her) and neither was her godfather who observed her the whole time.

“Are you sure you don’t want something?” Zelda offered, handing out an apple. “Surely you need to eat too?”

The kokiri’s eyes narrowed, but he took the apple and slowly bit into it. It was just like trying to tame a fox, something Zelda had tried a few times only to find food and patience were her best options. Still, it was odd that he was so wary of her when she knew for a fact he’d looked after her for years. Was he so displeased at having been forced to allow her inside his kingdom? Hylians were not much liked there, and they had spoken of a war…

A korok climbed into her lap, distracting her. The little creature chirped and trilled at her, then turned to Revali for a translation.

“They want to play with you,” the birdman explained, exchanging a stunned look with his king. “They say you are nice.”

“Oh! Well, thank you,” Zelda told the korok. “I think you are _very_ nice too. I would love to play with you, if I’m allowed?”

This time there was no hesitation and the king nodded right away, taking another slow bite into his apple. He was still frowning, something Zelda now suspected to be his default expression, but she was sure she could see the faintest hint of a smile at the corner of his lips.

For the rest of the day, Zelda played hide and seek with the koroks who squealed and laughed whenever she found one. It also gave her a chance to see a little more of the Lost Woods, some of the koroks having hidden deeper inside them. She caught glimpses of other creatures, most of which ran when they saw her coming. One though, a terrible monster half lion half man, would have charged her if Revali hadn't landed on her shoulder, a bird once more. Zelda hadn't even noticed that he was following her, but she was glad she did.

By then night was falling. Revali hopped down on the ground and pulled on her dress to signify it was time to go back. Zelda followed him, a little ashamed that she had wasted so much time playing when she could have studied this wonderful place. It had been a lot of fun and she couldn't fully regret it, but she was half sure her godfather would not invite her again. 

The King of the Lost Wood was waiting for her at the wall of thorns, and opened a passage for her when he saw her approaching. 

"Thank you for letting me come here," she told him, reaching to hold his hand until she saw how he was tensing at that gesture. "I know you might not want me here again, but it was wonderful to have even just today." 

Her godfather nodded with the ghost of a smile on his face. 

"The koroks liked you," he said in a voice rough from lack of use. "They will want you to visit again." 

Zelda grinned, overcome with a desire to hug her fairy godfather for this invitation

"When can I come again? I wouldn't want to bother, but…" 

The kokiri raised a hand to his head and plucked out a single gray hair on which he breathed blue flames, turning it into a round little clam shell. He motioned for Zelda to give him her hand and dropped the shell in it. He then made her close her fingers around it, and immediately she felt warmth come from the shell, while a blue speck of light appeared near her godfather's head. 

"A signal! That's amazing!" 

"Come when you like," the kokiri said. "I will always open the way for you." 

The very next day Zelda was back at the wall of thorns, the clam warm in her fist as she waited for her godfather. Her guardians hadn't asked a single question about her absence of the previous day, and that morning Urbosa hadn't said a word against her lie about wanting to study flowers. It was barely a lie anyway, as she _did_ intend to be more serious than the previous day and to start a proper study of the Lost Woods. 

Lucky for her, her godfather and Revali were expecting her this time and had planned for her a tour of the Lost Woods, one that would require her to return several times if she wanted to complete it. The first place they showed her was a small pound Revali called the Spring of Courage. Zelda attempted to sketch it, but her efforts were complicated by the odd way the light reflected on the water. When she investigated that, she discovered crystals and precious stones at the bottom of the shallow pool. 

"So that's why," she muttered, jotting down the information before turning to Revali. "Do they have significance?" 

"They're people's offerings to the goddesses," he explained, avoiding to look too closely at the water. "Because they are pretty, we hope they'll like them. Hylians don't do that?" 

"I've heard there's a magic spring in Hyrule Castle, but I've never seen it," Zelda confessed. "It’s too far to travel. Besides my guardians do not revere the same goddesses as hylians, so there would be little point for them. Oh, that reminds me… have you ever met my guardians?" she asked, turning to her godfather. 

His eyebrows rose high and he exchanged a look with Revali who started sniggering, clearly struggling to not outright laugh. Zelda’s godfather carefully shook his head, avoiding her eyes. He was not laughing, but there was something almost like a smirk on his lips and she knew he was lying. Perhaps there had been an argument between them, and that was why her godfather had never properly introduced himself to her before? It was another thing to investigate, certainly.

But that would come later, when her godfather would be a little more relaxed around her. What mattered right then was to take notes and make sketches and take in as much of the Lost Woods. Now that she understood better the odd light of the Spring of Courage, Zelda sat down on a rock to sketch it again.

She screamed when the rocked moved and a korok appeared from under it, trilling and chirping happily while Zelda clutched her chest.

“Where you still hiding from yesterday?” she gasped, poking at the creature in revenge for the fright it gave her. The korok let out an alarmed cry, and went running to hide behind Zelda’s godfather. “Oh, I’m so sorry! Did I hurt you?”

“I think you just scared her,” Revali sniggered, patting the hylian’s shoulder. “She’s saying you shouldn’t see her.”

“Because she was hiding?”

"Because hylians do not normally see koroks," her godfather explained, bending down to pat the korok's head and comfort it. "In all my life I've ever met another one who could, long ago."

Zelda stared at him, surprised by the unexpected gentleness of his gesture as well as by hearing him speak with relative ease. 

“Really? Who was it?”

He stared at her, his lips pinched in a fine line.

“Doesn’t matter,” he hissed. “He wouldn’t see them anymore.”

“So someday, I’ll stop seeing them too?”

The idea was disheartening. She liked the koroks, even though Revali had been right when he’d said they tended to hide in very inconvenient places. If there was a risk she would lose sight of them someday, then she would need to focus her study on them while she still could, and…

“You’ll see them as long as you’re worthy,” her godfather said, his voice cracking from speaking this much. “So far, you’re already doing better than him.”


	8. Sweet darling you worry too much

A blue light appeared by Link’s head, and he couldn’t help a smile as he got up from the grass and walked to open the way for the little princess. All summer there had hardly been a day when Zelda hadn’t come to the Lost Woods, and he had taken the habit of waiting for her near the wall of thorns every morning. That, of course, was only for convenience’s sake, he often told himself. It wasn’t because he was  _ happy  _ to see her every day, to watch her explore the Lost Woods. He only tolerated her excitement because aside from Revali she was the only person who didn’t treat him as a monster… and unlike Revali, she was not bound to him by a life debt.

“Where are we going today?” Zelda asked as she scampered through the passage. “Can we go to the river? I want to see how the fish are different from the other side!”

Link nodded. The river wasn't a bad idea, and he’d finished testing her anyway. He had taken her every place that might have tempted her into greed, every place where her father had looked at beauty but spoken only of  _ value _ , and she had never once wanted to take anything for herself. Perhaps her heart was purer than Rhoam’s had ever been. Or perhaps it was only because unlike her father, she had never wanted for anything, never had to fight for scraps. If Rhoam hadn’t been born so poor, if he’d had parents to love and care for him.

If Link had managed to love him better and had convinced him to stay that day… but no. Rhoam had been tainted by despair before they even met for the first time, Link could have done nothing to save him. 

When they arrived at the river, a group of kokiri was playing there. They froze when they saw Zelda, huddled together when they noticed Link. But the princess calmed them with her smiles and gentleness, asking if she could draw them. One boy, a vain little thing called Mido, immediately took her on that offer, all fear forgotten. Before long Zelda sitting in the grass, surrounded by winged children, either wanting a portrait of their own or offering advice. Link couldn’t help but smile, remembering when he had been one of those children and trusting others had been that easy. He sat too, between the roots of a tree that fell into the water, and Revali, in his more human form, sat at his side as he often did. 

After a few minutes, Zelda showed her work to Mido who started arguing that she hadn’t made him nearly handsome enough, to which a girl called Fado replied the hylian had, if anything, been too kind to him. That quickly degenerated into an argument and, because they were right next to the river, the argument turned into a mud fight. Zelda laughed and shrieked as she tried to protect her precious notebook from stains and water, eventually throwing it on Link’s lap so she could better take part in the fight. But before Link could properly appreciate this trust on her part, mud hit him on the face.

All the kokiri immediately froze and Mido, who had been trying to hit Fado, turned deathly pale. Link stared at them. He’d known the woodland creatures feared him, he’d done everything for that, but to see such absolute terror on the face of someone he used to play with only a few decades earlier…

Revali bursted out in loud cackles, distracting Link. Of course the birdman would find it funny when he always thought Link was too dramatic about everything. Link smirked and with a flick of his wrist sent a ball of mud right onto Revali’s head.

“Oh, this is war!” the birdman grunted, still half laughing as he jumped in the water to grab ammunition. 

Link barely had time to levitate Zelda’s journal for protection before Revali aimed at him and hit him in the chest.

“That’s for all the stupid things you’ve turned me into,” Revali informed him, before grabbing more mud and throwing it at Zelda. “And that’s for the time  _ you  _ stole a feather!”

She shrieked, almost falling in the water in her effort to avoid the mud.

“Godfather, please help me!” She begged. “We must band together against him!”

“You can’t all be against me!” Revali protested, seeing that the kokiri had recovered from their panic and were all standing behind the princess, ready to fight for her. He too turned to Link. “Come on, you owe me that!”

His little cucco or his trusted friend, who should he help? The question was tough, but Link quickly decided and, with a few gestures, he made sure everyone was covered in mud. Everyone shouted and protested against that betrayal but Link could only laugh at the sight of those mud monsters glaring at him. A real, sincere laughter, the first he’d allowed himself in years, and he had missed that. He had missed feeling joy.

The downside of a mud battle was the cleaning required after. Zelda insisted on helping the kokiri, pointing out they wouldn’t be able to fly with their wings this heavy. She was dreadfully worried something bad might happen to them, even though nothing in the Lost Wood would ever hurt them. Still Link indulged her and helped them too. It had been years since he’d done any grooming with others and while they were very silent around him at first, the young kokiri soon started to chat as they normally would. They talked about which fruit would soon be ripe for harvest, about their latest games with the koroks, and how the golden lynel had finally found a mate so maybe she’d be a little less cranky. Innocent gossip that had Link longing for simpler times, when those things were also the most important problems on his mind.

Fado rose from before him, her wings heavy with water but clean again. Another kokiri approached to get his turn, but Revali beat him to it, sitting in the water at Link’s feet.

“My turn,” the birdman demanded. “You’ve made a mess, you clean the mess.”

Link laughed at the petulant order, but readily complied. Revali was worse off than the kokiri, and while he had  _ deserved  _ it for mocking Link, he still set out to help him. After years of being helped by the birdman, it was only a just return. Or course it would have been faster and easier to turn Revali back to his bird form for this, but his feathers were much softer when he was hylian-like.

“It’s nice to see you smiling,” Revali noted.

“I’ve always smiled often.”

The birdman chuckled with a sad edge to his voice. “Not like that. Not for the right reasons, not the right way. It’s nice to hear you speak more too.” Revali turned his head to look at Zelda, taking her chance to inspect the kokiri’s wings as she washed them. “She’s a good kid.”

Link only hummed. Zelda was a sweet girl indeed. That was the problem. Things would have been much easier if she had been more like her father and grandfather.

“We’ve raised our kid pretty well,” Revali insisted, puffing his feathers proudly. They were so wet they clung to one another and stuck out in every direction, almost like a hedgehog’s spikes.

Link laughed again and Revali chuckled too, leaning against his master’s legs, looking up with a softness in his eyes that he usually reserved for Zelda. Link did not question it, and finished getting his servant clean so he could go back to helping the other kokiri.

* * *

By the time everyone was clean, it was sunset and Zelda had to head home. She had never yet spent the night inside the Lost Woods although she had mentioned a few times she would love that dearly. Perhaps Link would allow it one day. It would have to be soon, he knew. Her birthday wasn’t so far. But that night was not right for it, he could feel a colder wind coming, and the day had been so active Zelda would struggle to stay up and observe the wonders of the night. He walked her back to the wall of thorns, just the two of them for once because Revali still wasn’t done drying.

“I have a question for you,” Zelda said with some hesitancy. “But it is one you might not want to answer. You might not even want it asked at all, and I shouldn’t mention it, but I have been wondering so much…”

Link smiled, and gestured for her to go on. He could not have begrudged her for her curiosity when his own magic had reinforced it.

“Mido said you are a kokiri too,” she explained. “And I couldn’t help but notice they all have wings and you… do not. Is it… is it because you chose to grow up that you lost them?”

Stopping in his tracks, Link felt his breath knocked out of him. He stared at Zelda, so worried for daring to ask that, so ready to be sorry for him.

“My wings were taken from me,” he mumbled, the words hard to get out when the mere memory of it was stealing his voice again. “I miss them.”

Zelda gasped in horror and put one hand on Link’s shoulder, gentle and soothing.

“I am so sorry! What monster did such a thing? Was it…” she hesitated. “Is that why everyone here is so suspicious of hylians?”

Link only nodded. It certainly was part of it, although hylians had never been much beloved by the woodland creatures. Except for Rhoam who had played them all for fools, who had given them hopes of reconciliation. Rhoam who had betrayed him, and thus betrayed them all.

And now his daughter was trying to comfort Link, without knowing how she was fated to pay for her father’s crimes.

“It was long ago,” Link said, forcing the words out of his throat. “It has nothing to do with you.”

“Still I am sorry that you were hurt this way,” Zelda insisted, her eyes shining with unspilled tears. “How could anyone be so cruel to you?”

Link had to look away, his heart clenched at the sincerity of her pain for him. Rhoam had been cruel but Link had repaid him in kind and raised the stakes. How many hylians had died because of their feud by now? Link was not worthy of her sympathy. Not when she too would soon suffer at his hand.

“It was long ago,” he repeated. “Pay it no mind, little cucco. You must go home now.”

Zelda did not insist, and they walked the rest of the way in silence.

* * *

When all were asleep in the cottage on the edge of the woods, Link went it, careful not to make a noise. He found his way to Zelda’s room easily, having come there many times in the last decade and a half.

Leaning against the doorframe, he observed the sleeping girl in her bed. She’d turn seventeen in a matter of weeks now. Time was running out for her, and he couldn’t stand the idea. Not anymore, not now that he had met her and seen her grow into someone pure and honest.

“I revoke my curse,” he whispered, waving his hand towards the bed. “Let it be no more.” Magic flickered around his fingers, red and blue fighting and he focused harder, willing all of his power to undo what he had created. “I revoke my curse, let it be no more!”

The red flames of the curse stood strong around the sleeping princess and Link pushed harder against them. “I revoke my curse!” he shouted, desperation peaking through his voice. “Let it be no more!”

The red magic covered the room, covering it in bloody light and burning bright around the sleeping princess, as if to challenge him.

_ So I say and so it shall be, for all eternity _ , his own voice resonated to his ears, taunting him. What he had done to that innocent girl could not be undone.

He would have his revenge. And it would cost him everything.


	9. My child

From her window Zelda could see the distant village bathed in morning light, and the cloud of dust that signified the recruiters had come again for the king’s army. They wouldn’t find anyone though. She’d heard Urbosa and Daruk say there was hardly a man of fighting age left, and those who were still around had something about them that made them unfit for the army. Recruitments had intensified these last few months. So had taxes, and requisitions of iron. The poor smith had all but gone out of business, Mipha had said one evening. And yet the king still wanted more.

It was an unfair world, Zelda thought with a sigh, and hylians were the heart of all problems it seemed. After all the king was hylian, and his army who gave him power were hylians, and the villagers who to this day often tried to set fire to the wall of thorns were hylians, and… and it was a hylian who had torn off her godfather’s wings. The other kokiri had whispered to her that he hadn’t always been so gloomy and cold. He was better since Zelda had started coming to the Lost Woods, Mido had said, but he still was unrecognisable from what he had once been.

With another sigh, Zelda tore herself from the window. There was much wrong in the world, and she was nothing but an orphan girl who didn’t have the power to right all of it. But she could perhaps change a few things at least, and she certainly would try. In the days since she had learned of her godfather’s wings, she had been forming a plan and that morning she would share it with him.

Her feet felt light as she trotted to the edge of the Lost Woods. She was practically bouncing while she went through the passage that had opened for her in the wall, and she couldn’t help a large smile when she saw her godfather, Revali on his shoulder, both waiting for her.

“Where are we going today?” she asked them.

“Anywhere you’ll want,” her godfather replied.

Zelda’s smile widened. He was speaking so much more easily these days, his voice no longer cracking. His words still remained stuck somewhere at times, forcing him into silence, but that was so rare compared to the early days. Mido was right, she had done something to change him.

“It doesn’t really matter where we go,” she decided. “Today, I want to talk to you, if that’s fine?”

The request surprised him, but he nodded. “Let’s walk and talk then.”

He offered his arm and Zelda took it. It was another way he had changed, he no longer rejected her touch. She was glad of that too.

“What did you want to tell me, little cucco?”

“It’s about an idea I’ve had,” Zelda explained. “Something I’ve decided. I’m not stupid you know, I see how the world is. There are… bad people out there.”

“Worse than you’ll ever know,” her godfather muttered, his red eyes hardening.

“I know more than you realise,” she protested gently. “I am almost seventeen, you know. I’m not sure the date, but I know it’s on the next days to come… And seventeen means adulthood and wisdom, people say. Well, I didn’t wait for it to look around. I can _see_ how people are. Even those who are good will do evil at times, if they are afraid. Like the villagers who try to attack the Lost Woods.”

Her godfather said nothing, but pulled her closer for a moment, as if to protect her.

“I have made my decision,” she told him, encouraged by the gesture. “Someday, I want to live here in the Lost Woods with you and Revali, and with all the woodland creatures too. And then it’ll be my turn to take care of you, godfather!”

He stopped walking to look at her, his eyes round with surprise. For a second Zelda feared he might become angry at her proposal, but slowly a smile crept up on his face. It was not exactly a happy smile. If anything, she thought there was something almost desperate to it.

“Why wait?” her godfather asked frantically. “You could come live here _now_. I would be delighted to have you. We _all_ would be.”

Revali, perched on a branch above them, loudly croaked his approval before hopping down on her shoulder and rub his beak against her cheek. Zelda distractedly pet his head, all her attention on her godfather.

“You mean it? I could come live here, right now? Oh! Well, not right now of course, I need to get my belongings and to warn my guardians, but… tomorrow? I could come back tomorrow and stay forever?”

“If you want, yes.”

“Of course I want!” Zelda exclaimed, throwing herself at his neck to hug him, nearly making poor Revali fall. “It’s all I could want, to be here with you! That’s… please, take me back to the wall! I want to go prepare now, so I can start living here as soon as possible!”

The kokiri laughed and hugged her back, a little too tight, as if he didn’t want to let her go at all.It should have made her uneasy, especially with his desperate smile, but she was too happy to finally have her wish granted. 

It was all very nice to decide she would run away and live in the Lost Woods for the rest of her days, but Zelda would first need to tell her guardians. A daunting task, and one she was in no hurry to accomplish once she was back on the hylian side of the wall. She wasn't _scared_ of them. Not by far. She dearly loved the three of them. She also knew that they wouldn't be happy about her decision, and that it none of them reacted well to bad surprises. Mipha had cried for days when, at twelve, Zelda had cut her own hair. In her defence, the zora had been unaware that hylian hair could regrow. 

Slightly anxious as to how to break the news of something significantly more dire than a haircut, Zelda went to the river to practice what she might say. She paced for hours on the muddy banks, trying to find something that wouldn't anger Urbosa, sadden Mipha, or confuse Daruk. 

"Dearest guardians, who have so kindly raised me all these years," she started, and immediately stopped. It didn't sound right already. She couldn't sound so childish.

"My guardians, we need to talk." 

But no, that wouldn't work either. She couldn't sound so dry, she didn't want to appear uncaring! They had sacrificed so much for her and she loved them dearly and she needed the perfect words so they would know that, but also let her go like the adult she _nearly_ was. 

"My dear friends and guardians..." 

"Excuse me, my lady?" 

Zelda shrieked in surprise and nearly fell into the river, only barely catching herself to a tree. A young man had come out of nowhere and was looking at her in worry. Well, perhaps not out of nowhere if she were honest, because she could see his brown horse on the path, loaded with all sorts of bags. 

"I am so sorry, I didn't mean to scare you!" he said, hurrying to help her, stopping when he realised she was trying to get behind the tree to escape him. “I really am sorry, my lady. I would not have disturbed you, but I’m afraid I am quite lost and in need of help.”

Taking a deep breath to calm herself, Zelda took a good look at him. The hylian couldn’t be more than two or three years older than her, if even that, and he was wearing rich garments of a style she had never seen before. That intrigued her enough that she forgot she ought to have been wary of a stranger.

“Where is it you want to go?” she asked.

“To Hyrule Castle, where I have business. I was told to travel along the wall of thorns until I found the road to town, but I have been around for hours and I think I’m running in circles.”

He sighed, and Zelda couldn’t help smiling at how absolutely distraught he looked.

“Your information must be old,” she told him. “The old road is hardly used at all these days, and around the Lost Woods it has been reclaimed by nature. Your best chance would be to go down the river until you meet the old stone bridge, and then it should be easy to find your way again.”

“My lady, you are my saviour!” the young man exclaimed. “With such clear instructions, I am sure to arrive where I’m meant to go! At least, I hope so,” he sighed, more subdued. “Even with proper directions, I tend to get lost easily.”

Zelda chuckled at this stranger with his beautiful horse and his embroidered silk who couldn’t even find his way. It was rather endearing, really, and she couldn’t help but notice he wasn’t too bad looking. Certainly he looked better than the soldiers and peasants her age she’d met, if only because he was better fed. Most of all though she was intrigued by how _foreign_ he looked and sounded.

“What is your name, my Lord?”

“I am Beedle. I am sorry, I should have introduced myself much earlier! And who are you, my lady?”

“I am Zelda,” the girl replied, heat creeping up on her cheeks. It was nice to be called _my lady_. “I live not far from here and I know the area fairly well. If you’d like, I could guide you and make sure you won’t get lost.”

A large smile brightened Beedle’s face, his relief all too obvious. “My lady, I would be forever in your debt! But surely you might have other obligations, I would not want to impose…”

Zelda chuckled. She really liked the way he said _my lady_, and she wanted to hear it again. Besides if she stayed alone she would just spend hours trying to come up with a way not to disappoint her guardians. Helping Beedle was absolutely the better option there.

“My lord, I am quite free for you. If we go now, you might have a chance to reach the castle before night. Sooner even, if your horse is a fast one. Does it have a name?”

“She’s called Epona,” Beedle explained, hurriedly going to take his mount’s reins so he could follow Zelda on the narrow path near the river. “And she is the fastest horse the world has ever known.”

Zelda chuckled again at that obvious attempt to impress her. She didn’t dislike that either.

* * *

Hidden within the thorns, Link watched as Zelda and the stranger walked away. He saw the way that young man eagerly tried to impress her, the way the young princess laughed and played with her hair whenever he said something. All the more reason to bring her inside the Lost Woods for good. He knew the look on that girl’s face, just as he knew the pain it would have soon brought her, had she not been condemned. Perhaps his curse was a blessing after all if it could save her from that.

Revali, perched near him, watched on the two young people with equal intensity but much less distaste, croaking cheerfully and glancing expectantly at Link. The kokiri, intrigued by that good humour, turned him to his larger from so he could explain himself.

“Well? Why aren’t you smiling?” Revali asked, almost vibrating with excitement. “You can _ see _them! It’s what we were hoping for!”

Link glared at him. “I haven’t seen anything here I have ever hoped for.”

“But the curse! True Love’s kiss can break it, can’t it? And the way they’re looking at each other… Isn’t it obvious what’s happening?”

The kokiri turned away from his servant to look again at the two young people, almost out of his sight now, and he grimaced.

“Haven’t you worked it out yet?” he hissed, his voice nearly giving out in emotion. “I had cursed her that way because there’s no such thing as true love. It’s a lie, a fantasy.”

Even without looking, Link felt Revali’s good humour crumble.

“That might be how you feel,” the birdman dryly noted, “but what about Zelda? This could be her only chance. Would you really let her die, just because you were betrayed _ once_?”

Link turned again to glare at his servant. He had expected the birdman to be angry, yet the expression on his face was one the kokiri could not easily read. Sadness, perhaps. Resignation, too.

“Yeah, didn’t want to hear that, uh?” Revali mocked, but his usual bite felt missing. “Well go on, turn me into something so you won’t have to deal with the truth. What will it be? A dog? A worm? Go, do what you want. Whatever you do to me won’t change how much of a disappointment you are right now.”

"Then go!" Link ordered, furious at an accusation that rang too true to ignore. "Leave me! Your debt is repaid, I declare you free to go. Into…" 

Link raised his hand, ready to return his servant to his true form, but Revali grasped his wrist to stop him.

"You think this is still about the _ debt _?"

Revali's feathered ruffled in anger, and Link hesitated before he nodded. What else could it have been? 

"My debt was repaid long ago," Revali hissed. "The traditional duration is seven years. I could have left after that."

"Why didn't you?" 

"Because I thought we were _ friends _ !" the birdman exploded, dropping Link's wrist. "Because I was afraid what would happen to you without someone to ground you when you're seconds away from self destroying!" He sighed and looked away. "Because I was stupid enough to hope you'd heal someday and your heart would beat again. But you… So you only ever saw me as your servant, all these years? Well at least _ that's _settled. And you know what? I'm done. Go and mope in a corner. Let your magic destroy you next time an army comes. As you've said my debt is repaid, so change me back and _farewell_."

“Into a bird!” Link quickly muttered, not because Revali had asked for it, but because it was still the only way to shut him up. The raven glared at him and croaked one last time, loud and bitter, before he took flight and disappeared.

For the first time in many years, Link was alone.


	10. Our farewell

Dusk was falling by the time Zelda returned to the cottage, everything coloured in a pleasant red light. Tonight the world felt a little more beautiful on this side of the wall of thorns. It wasn’t often she could talk to someone as interested as her in natural sciences, so she had been delighted to discover that Beedle was a bit of a bug fanatic. They had talked about beetles and grasshoppers with such intense joy that they had nearly passed the bridge where Zelda had promised to take him. They had both laughed at that mistake and chatted a little more before Beedle had to go. He did so very reluctantly, and asked for permission to return this way so they might go bug hunting together. Zelda had very easily granted that permission. She did so like the way he called her his lady.

Because she had gone with Beedle, Zelda had not managed to rehearse what she would say to her guardians. It didn’t feel so important anymore. They loved her, they would understand that she was grown now. Wasn’t it every parent’s dream to see their child go and make their way into the world? And they were her family, just as much as her godfather.

When she entered their cottage, Zelda found it to be messier than she had ever known it, with Daruk covered in flour and Mipha working on a dress that looked more like armour. Urbosa gasped when she spotted her, ran to her and made her turn away so she wouldn’t see what they were doing.

“You are home early!” the gerudo complained. “Why do you have to be home early the one day we were counting on you to be late?”

“You always say it’d be nice if I were here for dinner sometimes,” Zelda protested with a grin. “Well, today I am, because there is something I need to tell you. Something important. As you know, it is soon my birthday…”

At that word Mipha dropped what she was doing and came to hug her tight, her eyes shining in emotion.

“Yes, it is!” the zora exclaimed. “In two days you will be seventeen! Oh, how fast you’ve grown! It’s like yesterday you were just a little tadpole on that table…”

“But I’m an adult now,” Zelda said, patting her guardian’s head awkwardly, never sure how to behave with Mipha since she’d become the tallest between them. “And since I’m an adult, I think… I think it’s time for me to leave the house and start my own life.”

That declaration was followed by a heavy silence. Her three guardians stared at her with various degrees of horror on their faces, until Daruk dropped the sack of flour in his hands.

“But we were supposed to deliver you back to your father at last!” he grumbled. “Do you know how much trouble we’ll be in if you leave _ now _?”

Urbosa and Mipha turned and glared at him for that blunder, but it was too late.

“What father?” Zelda gasped. “You’ve always told me I was an orphan!”

Her three guardians exchanged looks and Urbosa sighed.

“Come here, little one,” she said, taking Zelda’s arm and pulling her towards the table. “You will need to sit for this, I think.”

For a while Revali had circled around Link, hoping he might be called back after all. Not because he would have instantly rushed to the kokiri’s side, he had his pride, but just to see if his presence mattered at all. It apparently didn’t. Not once did Link look up, frozen in place where Revali had left him. Probably brooding and ready to fall back to his darker tendencies the first chance he’d get. Well too bad for him. Revali would not return to distract him from self destruction, not again. He’d miss their banter and whatever closeness had grown between them over the years. What he’d thought had grown between years. He’d been fooling himself, in the end. Still he’d miss the kokiri.

He’d miss the princess too, and at least she had never taken him for granted. He needed to tell her goodbye before he went back to the simpler life of an ordinary raven, because at least _ she _ had never mistaken his affection for servility. He didn’t want to disturb her time with her new friend though, because unlike _ some people _ Revali did believe in love, even right after having been disappointed by it.

Flying to the cottage, Revali perched himself at her window and waited. She took a long while to come home, and when she did there was a spring in her step that the raven envied. Perhaps she would tell him about that when she’d find him waiting for her. It would be nice to hear someone be happy, for a change.

But the princess did not come up to her bedroom. Instead after a while she ran out of the cottage towards the wall of thorns, ignoring the voices of her guardians calling her name. Revali quickly flew after her, half afraid he knew what could have caused Zelda’s distress. He followed her into the Lost Woods, the poor girl still running until she saw Link and froze.

“When were you going to tell me I’m cursed?” she shouted, tears running down her face. 

Link did not reply, his ashen face turning paler still, his hands grasping his walking staff so hard the wood cracked.

“You knew, didn’t you?” Zelda accused. “You knew and you said nothing! And I’m a princess? You knew that and you let me believe I’d be allowed to come live here with you?”

Link opened his mouth to speak but no sound came out.

“You had to know,” Zelda sobbed. “They said it was a powerful kokiri that live in the Lost Woods, of course you’d have to know him! And he cursed me and you knew! His name was… his name…”

“Link.”

The kokiri’s face was distorted by pain at that admission. He’d never told his own name to the princess, had asked Revali not to do it either, but Zelda was no fool. Understanding dawned on her face and her tears dried.

“It’s you,” she hissed, despair turning to rage. “_You _ did this to me! You _ lied _to me! You said I could be happy in the Lost Woods, how could you?”

Again Link tried to speak and failed. He took a step toward the princess but she backed away, clenching her fists. She looked at the right one in surprise, and opened her hand to discover the small shell that had let her come into the Lost Woods for months. Looking Link right in the eyes she crushed the shell before throwing the fragments his way.

“Keep your cursed woods,” she spat at the kokiri. “I don’t want them anymore.”

She ran back through the passage that Link hadn’t had time to close again. Revali felt tempted to follow her and make sure she wouldn’t do anything stupid, but his presence would have been unwelcome. He too knew of the curse. He hadn’t said anything either, betraying that poor girl just as badly as Link had.

None of this was his problem anymore, of course. Revali could have flown away from the Lost Woods until he found a little grove or an empty attic to live in. He could, he should have left in search of a decent mate who would actually notice him, someone who wasn’t still wallowing in grief and resentment. That would have been the smart thing to do.

Instead Revali came to perch himself on Link’s staff, gently pulling on the kokiri’s gray hair to distract him. Link looked at him, red eyes shining.

“Find the boy,” he begged, his raw voice barely above a breath. “Bring him to me.”

It would have been smart to refuse. But if he had been smart, Revali wouldn’t have fallen so in love with Link in the first place.

The raven nodded and croaked, gently pecking at Link’s cheek before taking flight. He’d find that boy indeed. Their little princess’s life depended on it.


	11. And nothing remains

Sitting on a farmer’s cart, Zelda pondered what to do. She had stormed off after her encounter with Link, determined to go back to her father and had walked the whole night, too furious to lay somewhere and sleep. She had been betrayed by every adult in her life, she’d felt.

But a little after dawn she had met this farmer who was going to Castle Town’s market to sell his pumpkins, and who had readily agreed to take her there. Sitting among vegetables, Zelda had finally cooled down a little, and taken the chance to analyse the situation with the same care she would have observed a new herb.

She had been lied to, there was no question of that. And she had been fated to suffer for something that others had done, it was equally true. Still the whole thing might still be repaired. Her guardians hadn’t known why Link had chosen to curse her, but Zelda knew he and the entirety of the Lost Woods had suffered greatly at the hands of hylians, before the wall of thorns was erected. She could guess also that much of the hylians’ current animosity for the woodland creatures was due to the curse, and perhaps to a lack of knowledge of their magical neighbours. That put her in a very important position, she decided. If she could convince her father to order his subjects to leave the Lost Woods alone, peace might be obtained. Then she would just need to avoid touching any ocarina until the last light of her birthday.

Not that she really knew what an ocarina was. But they’d all been destroyed her guardians has said, so there was little chance of encountering one within the next two days.

The sun had set by the time they finally arrived to Castle Town. Zelda grateful bid farewell to the farmer who had so kindly transported her, then walked straight to the castle where she knew she would be welcome. Wasn’t she their long lost princess?

But the guards at the entrance of the castle gave her the stink eye when she stated who she was. They mocked her for even trying to pull a prank such as that one when everyone knew that the princess had probably been killed and devoured by the strange monsters who she had been handed to. She had to insist until a sergeant was called in to deal with her, and he admitted there was perhaps an air to her that might have been royal.

“With all they’re preparing, can be worth a shot,” the sergeant concluded. “Come, little miss. And if you’re really the princess, don’t forget that I'm the one who let you in.”

“I won’t,” Zelda promised, but the way he looked at her said clearly enough he did not expect her to be anything special.

Still he took her inside, covering her eyes so she wouldn’t see something he called the king’s weapon, guiding her through what seemed to be a narrow, sinuous path. At one point Zelda became worried that she’d made a mistake, that the man had just lied about helping her, that he was going to harm her… but when her eyes were uncovered she was inside the castle.

“That way, little miss,” the sergeant ordered. “His majesty is having a council.”

Zelda followed, excitement rising inside her. So this was the castle she’d always seen on the horizon! There were so many great tapestries and large paintings! There were so many people too, all of them looking extremely busy. So many corridors that she would surely have lost herself without a guide. In fact, she fully intended to get lost there once she had been reunited with her dear parents. What a wonderful place to explore, so different from all she had ever known!

Her joy fell a little when the sergeant brought her inside a sinister room where men in dark armour were standing around a table, muttering threats she only half heard.

“Your majesty, if I may be allowed to disturb you,” the sergeant said, his tone far more polite than when talking to Zelda, “I have here a girl who claims to be her majesty the princess, and I thought you might want to see her and decide what to do.”

One of the armoured men turned to look at them. A tall man with white hair and a large beard wearing a crown of gold. Zelda smiled at the one she could only assume to be her father, but he only glared at her.

“You look a lot like your mother,” the king said coldly, as if that were a crime.

Zelda’s smile wavered. She wanted to be happy, she had been _recognised_ by her father even after years of absence, but something about him unsettled her.

“Really? I do long to see her…”

“She’s died,” he cut her, his voice betraying no emotion. “Some months back. A female illness of some sort. And _ you _ are here too soon. Those three idiots really were useless to the end.” He motioned to the sergeant who had brought Zelda in. “Take her to the Spring of Wisdom and make sure she stays there until the curse has run out of time. I don’t have time to lose with that girl, not when _ he _will be there soon. You!” he called out a knight. “Is the net in place?”

The sergeant grabbed Zelda by the elbow and dragged her outside. She tried to protest, to call out for her father, but he ignored her cries and returned to his battle plans without a look for his daughter.

Night had fallen on the woods, with nothing but the cry of the occasional owl and the music of the river to break the silence. Link paced next to the water, nervous to be on the wrong side of his wall where hylians might see him. He had been pacing for hours now, waiting for Revali’s return with that too well dressed boy. Waiting for the moment his curse would overcome and destroy an innocent. Waiting for something, _ anything _to happen, powerless to provoke events.

He should have told Zelda about the curse. He should have told her the instant he realised he had started caring for that little cucco. He should have told her when she was a child, too pure hearted to realise she should have feared him. He should have told her when she called him her godfather. He should have told her when she asked about his wings. He did not though, because he had loved that silly girl. 

In the end, just like Rhoam, he had been selfish.

A loud raven cry pulled Link out of his thoughts, especially followed so closely by the clap of hooves on the dirt path. A brown horse appeared along the river, on his back a young man in rich clothes who made his mount slow when he spotted Link.

“Excuse me good sir, I know it is very late, but I was wondering if you might help me. You see, I’m looking for a girl…”

“Of course you are,” Link grunted, flicking his hand to make the boy fall asleep. Another gesture and the young man was levitating just above his horse, his feet still in the stirrups. His mount, thankfully, was a little smarter than other such creatures and took it all in a stride, staring blankly at Link as if it were waiting to see what would happen next.

“I need a horse too,” Link muttered to himself. He looked up and saw Revali perched above him, his head tilted in curiosity. Link couldn’t help a smile. “More importantly, I need a _friend_.”

Revali croaked and nodded his agreement.

“Into a horse,” Link ordered.

As always there was much of a bird left in Revali’s new form, the shape of a horse covered in dark feathers and still ornated by a sharp beak. It was a fearsome sight. Good. Link jumped on the beast’s back and grabbed the reins of the other horse. It was a long trip to Hyrule Castle, and he only had until the next sunset.

  


Night passed slowly for Zelda. She had tried climbing the high walls that surrounded the Spring of Wisdom only to fall on her ass more times than she could count. She had banged on the door until her hands were numb, shouted until her voice was raw. Nothing had worked. Nobody was coming.

At some point she had tried to sleep, but even that was taken from her. There was an itch on her lips that she couldn’t get rid off. It burned her and she had scratched herself to blood, the sensation keeping her awake. Biting did nothing either. Trying to ignore it was impossible, her lips almost pulsating with each of her heartbeats. Sometimes after dawn, she was brought some food and drink, but Zelda couldn’t swallow a thing. Any sensation on her lips was a torture.

In a fit of rage and pain, she turned to the tall statue standing on the Spring’s edge. That female form with her condescending smile, her arms delicately posed on her heart, her wings shaped almost like a heart.

“Can’t you help me?” Zelda cried, grabbing a pebble and throwing it at the water. “Isn’t that what you’re for? Help me! I just wanted to make things better! It’s you who allowed them to get bad in the first place!”

The statue remained silent and unmoving. Zelda watched the ripples her pebble had created in the clear water, scratching her lips without noticing the pain anymore. Wasn’t that water holy? She thought she had heard that before, or read it somewhere. Certainly it was worth a try. Kneeling down next to the Spring, Zelda filled a blood stained palm with fresh water and brought it to her lips. There was relief, at least for a second, so she did it again, and again. It did not last nearly enough though, so in despair the princess bent over and dunked her whole head under water, keeping it there until the need for air became too great. She remained there, panting weakly, until the itch overcame her again and she immersed her head again.

This time she kept her eyes open. She had noticed earlier that there were shapes at the bottom of the sacred pond, shapes she now realised were a variety of objects people had thrown there. There were a few gems, as in the Spring of Courage she’d seen in the Lost Woods. Most of the items were humbler though. She spotted a few copper coins, a bead necklace, a flute. Offerings from people who had little, yet were still willing to give it away for a favour from the Goddess. And then there was something she couldn’t recognise…

Running out of air, Zelda had to pull away to take a few breaths. That thing she had seen down there intrigued her though, and within a minute her face was underwater again, as was her arm so she could try to grab that odd thing. It looked like a flute, but the shape was wrong, and she needed to see it. She lost her balance reaching for it, the water fully submerging her.

When she managed to stand up again, Zelda had in her hand a small musical instrument that looked like a fat, purple flute. She smiled, excited about a new discovery and without thinking brought it to her lips to play a note.

Her lungs constricted the instant she breathed into the instrument. Zelda gasped but no air came in. She screamed, but no air came out. An insidious coldness took her over as if water were submerging her again.

The princess collapsed, the ocarina still in her hand, and somewhere still far from the castle Link screamed as he felt his curse finally triumph.


	12. Rousing from dreams

They laid the girl down on a bed, in the chamber that had once been her mother’s. She looked to be only asleep, the rise and fall of her chest her only movement. Rhoam could hardly bear to look at her, at the proof of his failure against the forces of darkness.

“She’s only sleeping, sire,” Mipha said hesitantly as she tenderly brushed aside a strand of blonde hair.

Rhoam glared at her, and at her two incompetent associates. They had arrived early that morning, breathless and desperate, explaining that the princess had run away after discovering who she was. It was because they had asked to see her that her lifeless body had been discovered, and all three had screamed and cried at the grim discovery. Once, a lifetime ago, their anguish might have touched Rhoam.

Now it only fueled his rage.

“She’s only  _ sleeping _ ?” he repeated. Something in his tone alerted Mipha and she left the princess’s side to hide behind her companions. A coward. He would have despised her, had she not been so below his contempt. “She’s  _ only  _ sleeping, you say!”

He took a step toward the three champions, his eyes so fixed on the zora he did not see the other two shuffling closer to try and hide her from him.

“She’s only sleeping for ever!” Rhoam exploded. “You were supposed to protect her! She is as good as dead, and it is your fault!”

They had let her died, and the Demon King of the Lost Woods had caused it. Rhoam would get rid of Link first, and then of those three useless champions. He’d burn the Lost Woods until nothing remained but ashes. He would turn his armies against their monstrous neighbours and destroy those kingdoms too until only hylians remained in the world, the only species that could be trusted.

“There’s still hope your majesty!” Mipha insisted. “The curse did say that a True Love’s kiss…”

“True Love doesn’t exist!” Rhoam roared, pushing Urbosa aside to slap the zora. 

Mipha let out a pathetic cry, falling to her knees from the force of the blow. Immediately Urbosa and Daruk reached for their weapons, as did Rhoam’s knights who were more numerous and protected by stronger armour.

“You’ll regret this,” Urbosa hissed.

“It’s all you deserve for killing my daughter,” Rhoam retorted cooly. “And it might be a good lesson for your little friend.  _ This  _ is what the world is like, not that  _ true love _ nonsense.”

The gerudo bared her teeth, ready to jump as his throat in spite of the knights ready to die for him, but her goron companion took her wrist to stop her. At least one of them had some sense then.

“The creature will soon come to gloat over us,” Rhoam said, turning to his men. “We’ll make sure it receives the welcome it deserves.”

He left the room, followed by his knights, and the door closed on the three champions and their failed mission. Rhoam pushed them out of his mind with ease. They no longer mattered, now that he would finally get vengeance.

The streets of Castle Town emptied themselves as Link and his unconscious friend travelled through them. He thought at first it was his dark allure frightening the poor hylians, but when even guards went running, he started to suspect there was more at play. That was confirmed when he arrived at the foot of the castle to find it undefended.  _ Almost  _ undefended. He could not see it yet, but there was no ignoring the stench of Malice coming from inside.

Still the kokiri jumped down from his mount, distractedly turning Revali back to his larger form. For a moment at least, he needed to have someone with him.

“He’s waiting for you,” the birdman said. “If we go there, we won’t make it out again.”

“This is not your fight,” Link replied coolly, eyes on the castle. “You’re free. Go.”

“Oh,  _ thanks  _ Revali for your help. It’s such a  _ comfort  _ to have you here. I’m so glad to have a  _ friend  _ here. I’m  _ thankful… _ ”

Link turned, and saw Revali glaring at him even as he freed the hylian boy from his horse, his feathers ruffled in annoyance.

“Do we have to do this now?” Link hisses. “Or can settling our counts wait until we have saved Zelda?”

“Oh, so it’s a  _ we  _ now. Two seconds ago, it wasn’t my fight, but now there’s a  _ we _ ?”

Link glared at the birdman who seemed as unimpressed as ever, smirking as he guided the floating boy toward the entrance.

“It’s you I should have cursed,” Link complained. “Fine. I  _ want  _ you at my side.  _ Please _ . Help me save her? And then, if we make it alive, we’ll  _ talk _ .”

That, at least, got Revali’s attention, and after only the briefest of hesitations the birdman nodded. Whatever anger he still held against Link for all those years of being dismissed as a servant, he wouldn’t let that get in the way of saving their little princess.

Just as well, because in the castle’s courtyard Link discovered a far more threatening obstacle. He had felt the presence of Malice of course, expected it really when Rhoam knew so well the effect it had on woodland folk. He still wasn’t ready for the forest of tainted iron that had been laid in the courtyard, the filament of pure Malice that had been allowed to fester between metal spikes, pulsating with a power that existed only to destroy and corrupt. Link had never seen so much in a single place, had never known so much existed in the world. This terrified him, in a way Hyrule’s armies never had.

And yet, with Zelda on the other side, he would take the risk.

“I could go alone,” Revali suggested, gripping Link’s shoulder before he could step inside that trap. “It won’t affect me the way it affects you.”

The kokiri shrugged, and walked inside. He needed to be there to wake the hylian boy. He needed to be there to ask for Zelda’s forgiveness if she woke up. He needed to pay for what he had done, and being burned by Malice would be a small punishment for his crimes.

And he did get burned, more than once. He had to give that to Rhoam: his trap was cleverly designed, forcing Link to contort himself to advance. In some places it was impossible to pass without supporting himself on corrupted iron thorns, burning his hands as he went. Link healed fast and nothing left visible marks, but each poisonous touch of Malice drained a little more of his energy. By the time he managed to cross the courtyard, he was so exhausted his legs threatened to collapse under him. But Revali took his arm to support him, and there was that hylian boy still with them. Zelda’s only hope.

Rather than to take the main entrance as must have been expected of them, they had made their way to a servants’ entrance, one less likely to be hiding a trap for them. When they passed it, it wasn’t guarded. A relief, because Link might not have been in a state to fight, not until he had recovered from their Malice infected crossing.

From inside those walls, Link felt two things pulling at him. First there was another clump of Malice within the castle, one that moved about and was weaker than the courtyard labyrinth. Rhoam and his knights, though Link couldn’t pinpoint their position, just feel that they were somewhere inside the building. But stronger and more interesting to him was the call of his own magic coming from a room higher inside the building, which he could only guess was the place where Zelda had been laid to rest. Carefully he made his way there, followed by Revali and the sleeping hylian, the three of them avoiding a few servants and guards until they arrived before a heavy wooden door.

Link and Revali hid behind a large pillar, and the kokiri freed the hylian boy from the enchantments that had kept him sleeping and floating. He fell with a loud thud, immediately prompting the door to open, Zelda’s three guardians coming to check the problem.

The boy looked up at them. “I am very sorry, but I have no idea where I am. I was supposed to come to Hyrule Castle, but then I became distracted…”

“He seems the right age,” Mipha noted. “At least, I think. What is your name, young one?”

The young man stood up quickly, and bowed.

“I am prince Beedle, at your…”

“A prince!” the three champions exclaimed.

Daruk grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him inside, the other two following eagerly without thinking to close the door. Link and Revali exchanged a look and slipped inside to hide behind a convenient folding screen. They could not see well, but they could hear at least.

“Oh, but that’s Zelda!” Beedle exclaimed as he came close to the bed. “What happened to her?”

“A dreadful curse,” Mipha explained. “Do you know her?”

“We met not two days ago, and she helped me. A curse you say? Poor girl, she was so nice, we talked a little… I had so hoped to cross path with her again, but not like this.”

“Don’t you want to kiss her?” Daruk asked eagerly.

“Why, that would hardly seem correct! She’s asleep, it would be wrong to do it without permission. If she were awake of course…”

“We’re all very glad that you are a decent and honourable man,” Urbosa cut him. “But you actually  _ have  _ to kiss her. It is the only thing that might break her curse. You’ll worry about consent and morals when she’s once again among us.”

Through a gap between the panels of the screen, Link saw the gerudo push Beedle toward the bed. With great hesitation and under the pressuring glare of the champions, the hylian bent over the princess to press their lips together. For a second there was silence and hope, Revali gripping Link’s arm in anticipation.

Nothing happened. Zelda slept on.

Link let out a breath he hadn’t realised he was holding. It had been a fool’s hope anyway.

Inside the room the three champions expressed their disappointment, grumbling against the poor boy who had never had a real chance of saving their princess anyway. The three of them dragged Beedle outside, loudly proclaiming their intention of finding a better prince to wake Zelda, slamming the door behind them.

“No such thing as True Love,” Link murmured, resting his head against the screen for a second. A fool’s hope.

There was no need to hide now. Link walked to the bed where his little cucco slept and sat at her side, taking her hand. To think he had hated her once. To think he had wanted her dead, worse than dead. To think he had caused this, him and no others.

“I am so sorry I did this to you,” he whispered, brushing his thumb against the back of her hand. “You were the only innocent in what happened to me, and yet you are the only one to suffer for it. I would take it all back if I could. I would rather my curse be turned against myself than see you this way. My sweet little cucco, my silly girl, my curious friend, I would give everything to see you smile again.” He sighed, his voice trying to give out again, but still he forced himself to speak. “What I did to you is unforgivable, my friend. But I promise you at least that as long as I live, nothing will happen to you. I will protect you from all those who might harm you, even though I could not protect you from myself. And I will miss you, for every single day that I will live.”

With another sigh he kissed Zelda’s forehead, then stood up. He had failed her, but the Lost Woods still needed him. That at least he could do. On the way to the door his eyes met Revali’s. He saw there the same resignation he felt, the same despair. It might be a comfort someday to know that another was sharing his pain. For now it was only another reminder of all he had destroyed in his quest for revenge.

But he saw the sadness in Revali’s eyes suddenly turn to something else, just as he heard a noise behind. Link dared not turn, dared not look. He’d had enough of foolish hopes.

“Hello, godfather,” Zelda called out to him, and when he did turn she was smiling. “I’m glad to see you again.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey, I've seen the new Maleficent movie!  
I was... less than thrilled, but if you liked it I'd love to know what your preferred! :D


	13. Flawed by pride

“Hello, godfather,” Zelda called out to him, and when he did turn she was smiling. “I’m glad to see you again.”

Link ran back to the bed and took her in his arms, holding the young princess to his heart, letting her grasp at him so tight he almost couldn’t breathe.

“Silly little cucco,” he sighed. “So you came back to us.”

She giggled in his arms, while behind them Revali laughed too. “True Love’s Kiss,” the birdman noted, before coming to join the hug. That warmth and happiness was one Link doubted he deserved after all the harm he had caused, but he took it anyway, glad to be still loved by the two people he most cared about.

“What happens now?” Zelda asked after a moment. “Am I forced to stay here?”

“Only if you wish it,” Link promised. “Whatever you desire, I will make sure you have it. Stay here as a princess, return to your guardians, go build a new life in a place where no one no you… I will use any and all magic I have to give you what you want.”

“Then let me come with you to the Lost Woods, as you had offered. I could not stay in Hyrule, not as long as the king lives. He scares me.”

Pulling back from their embrace, Link looked into the girl’s eyes to see only hope, and a trust he did not deserve. She knew what he had done. She knew what he was. And still she did not fear him, no more than when she was a small child. A pity she would never be queen. It would have been good for the hylians to be ruled by someone whose heart was guided by curiosity rather than fear.

“Anything my little cucco wants, she’ll have it,” Link assured her. “Let’s get out of this place, and head somewhere a little less gloomy.”

Were the Lost Woods really less dull though? Link had forced them into a darkness hardly better than what had happened to the castle they were in. He could change that, though. He would change that. Once they were home, he would lift the darkness he had inflicted upon his people. Things would change, thanks to Zelda.

There were even less people in the castle than when Link and Revali had first made their way inside. A shame, because the three of them could have done with directions. Link had followed the pull of his cursed magic to find Zelda, but he had never thought to look how they were getting to her room, while Revali had been too focused on making sure Beedle wasn’t floating off or hitting walls. In the end their best option was to follow the stank of the Malice labyrinth in the courtyard. However dangerous, it was an exit. Zelda held Link’s hand as they made their way there, Revali behind them making sure they would not be sneaked on.

At last, they entered a room Link recognised. A great hall, large and with a tall ceiling, with two thrones resting before painted windows. It was that same hall were he had cursed Zelda, so long ago. The memory was unpleasant, but Link remembered that the great doors at the other end of that room opened on the courtyard, which meant they were almost out of that terrible place.

They walked toward those doors, toward freedom, until Link heard a shout.

He only had time to push Zelda and Revali away from him with a blast of wind before an enormous net fell down on him.

Link screamed in pain, burning everywhere the net touched him, the heavy cords that formed it glowing an ominous red. Where had Rhoam even found such quantities of Malice? Indeed it wasn’t only the net, knights were rushing into the room to surround him, and their armour shone with that same dark light, as did the swords with which they were trying to lunge at Link. Some he managed to avoid, entrapping himself further within the net with each movement, while others stabbed right through him, letting flow red blood he had rarely seen.

Weakening fast, Link heard Zelda screaming his name, heard Revali insulting the knights and try to attack them even though he was unarmed. The princess they would not harm, would not dare, she was one of them, but Revali, his friend, his accomplice… Revali who had stood at his side for years, never asking for more than his company, would be murdered by those hylians and that Link could not allow.

Link gathered the last of his strength, and waved his hand toward his friend. “Into a Beast,” he ordered.

Immediately Revali started growing, his body morphing and twisting, his black feathers turning to metal, his beak elongating and becoming sharp as swords, his frame so bulky he touched the high ceilings. When the transformation was complete he let out a terrible scream, closer to the screeching of metal than anything living.

The Beast’s first move was to lift the net entrapping Link. It gently let the kokiri fall out of it. After that, gentleness was the last thing on its mind as he flicked the net toward the knights that had hurt Link, whipping at them and sending them flying to make space around his friend before throwing the net against a wall. It then started attacking the hylians still standing with its beak and talons, fighting those that were still running into the room.

With the Malice gone, Link found himself able to breathe again, though he was still weakened beyond anything he had ever known. It was a comfort when Zelda ran at his side, trying to help him stand, but only a mild one. Around them more knights were still coming in, bearing malice infected weapons, but also odd blue balls that they threw at Revali. The explosions those balls provoked when they touched the giant Beast had the entire castle shaking, and Revali let out another cry, more anguished this time.

“We must find a way out!” Zelda cried. “They are too strong!”

“You run,” Link ordered. “Go, my little cucco. We will protect your flight. Go and do not let them catch you. Do not let Rhoam have you! If he turned you into something like him…”

The thought was unbearable. It had been so hard to see Rhoam be corrupted by greed and ambition. To think of the same thing happening to his dear Zelda was a torture.

“Your guardians are somewhere in the castle. Run to them! They hate Rhoam nearly as much as I do. Find them and let them take you away!”

“I can’t leave you!”

“And yet you will, if you have any love for me. Go! Seeing you in your father’s grasp would kill me more surely than all of his knights!”

Behind them, another row of bombs hit Revali, one that had him collapse. With the Beast taken care of, the knights once more started closing in on Link.

“I’ll save you,” Zelda whispered. “I’ll find a way, so don’t you dare die.”

She ran, and without her support Link fell down to his knees. His little cucco would be safe. The rest mattered little.

Her lungs on fire, Zelda ran through the castle, screaming the name of her three guardians, praying to the Goddess that they would be close enough to hear her. She knew how strong they were, and if she begged them, they would save Link for her. They loved her enough to protect even the kokiri because of whom they had lost their homes for seventeen years.

In her desperate quest for her guardians, Zelda passed by a room with open doors that had her slow down and step back. Glanding inside she recognised the room in which she had first met her father. At the time she had paid little attention to her surroundings, too taken first by the hope of that reunion, then by the pain of her dismissal. Not that there was much to see there, save a table covered in battle plans and, by the window, a large wardrobe hidden under a dark, heavy curtain.

When Zelda looked at it, the wardrobe trembled.

That should have scared her, but instead it intrigued her. This was no time for curiosity, not when her two dear friends’ lives depended on her, and yet she could not ignore that. She grabbed the curtain and pulled with all her strength until it flew off the piece of furniture it covered. The dust accumulated inside the fabric had her coughing, but when Zelda opened her eyes again she gasped.

There, enshrined with wood and glass, where two large golden wings fluttering as if trying to escape.

And Zelda knew just what she needed to do.


	14. To have and to hold

Link glanced at the knights who had formed a circle around him but were not attacking. They were waiting for something. What though? With great efforts he had managed to stand again, but he had to lean heavily on his walking staff lest he collapse again. Behind him Revali had fallen, still alive since he had not reverted yet to his original form, but too weak to fight anymore, heavy chains thrown upon his body to ensure he wouldn’t escape.

Revali who should never have been involved in any of this. Link should have sent him away before entering the castle. Better yet, he should have refused his servitude, debt or not. But then he might never have had the strength to be kind to Zelda, not without Revali who had been so fiercely caring for her from the start, and Link could not regret knowing her.

In front of him, the knights opened their circle to let through a warrior wearing a black armour laced with glowing Malice, carrying in one hand a large sword of the same repulsive alloy, in the other a whip of similar composition. When he lifted the visor of his horned helmet, Link saw a pair of blue eyes that, though much changed by the years, he would have recognised anywhere.

“So tell me, how does it feel to be a kokiri without wings?” Rhoam taunted him. “How does it feel to live like this, in a world where you don’t belong?”

The knights around them roared in approbation. For a moment Rhoam looked triumphant. But his smile fell when, one after the other, his knights started banging their swords against their shields, the circle around them tightening.

“Kill the creature!” one of them shouted. “Kill it!”

That yell of _ Kill it _ passed from knight to knight until they were all chanting it as a challenge to their king to finish what he had promised them when he had obtained his throne. Once, years ago, Link would have relished in the soldiers hatred of Rhoam. Now he could only feel sorrow that all their losses had been for nothing, his former friend barely a king at all if all his subjects despised him.

“Silence!” Rhoam ordered, raising his sword above his head. “I will kill that monster, and then destroy the Lost Woods!”

The sword came down toward Link who barely avoided it, stumbling backward. He couldn’t avoid the next one that hit his staff, sending him flying to the side, and without that support Link fell to the ground.

“You were always so pathetic,” Rhoam spat with a victorious smirk. “To think Ganondorf feared you so much!”

“Ganondorf faced me at my strongest,” Link retorted, trying to channel the last of his energy into a spell that might kill him, but would surely destroy Rhoam too. “You never had the courage to approach me without subterfuge and trickery. He was a fool but you are a _ worm _.”

Red and blue magic flickered at Link’s fingers as he lifted his hand, ready to annihilate both of them. 

Before he could unleash his power, the great stained windows behind him exploded. Link saw coloured glass flying around them, before his back was hit by something, the impact knocking the breath out of him. There was no pain though. Instead when he drew in a shaky breath, he felt his lungs fill and expand in a way they hadn’t in years, while the weariness of being exposed to Malice melted away. Most important, there was a weight on his back that brought tears to his eyes.Tentatively, Link extended muscles that hadn’t part of him in nearly two decades until one golden wing was stretched in front of him, as large and powerful as the day he had lost them.

“Impossible,” he heard Rhoam gasp

It was Link’s turn to smirk as he opened his wings and rose above the ground, loving how they flapped around him, how strongly they carried him. At last, he was whole again.

Rather than to attack Rhoam, Link’s first move was to free Revali, diving toward the soldiers holding him down so the Beast could shake his chains away. Beaming at him, Link laid one hand on the Beast’s metal body.

“Let’s go, my friend,” he said, pressing his forehead against the metal. “Let’s find Zelda and go home.”

As if she had heard him, Zelda came running into the room, her features distorted by worry until she saw Link and Revali were safe. The kokiri smiled at her, flying to come and grab her, but Rhoam stepped between them, raising his whip.

“So even my daughter has turned against me,” the king hissed. “She’ll pay for that too, after I’m done with you, monster! Now come, let’s finish our fight! Or are you too scared of me? You said I wouldn’t dare take you at your strongest. Let me prove how wrong your are!”

Link barely avoided being hit by that whip, keeping a careful eye on Zelda who was close enough to her father that Rhoam might easily hit her with his sword if he so desired.

It would be easy to grasp Zelda and fly away with her and Revali, to go hide in the Lost Woods and live there happily, but what would it solve? Rhoam would still be king, would still clamour for revenge and send army after army against the Lost Woods until every able man of Hyrule was killed, or until one of his knights betrayed him only to start the conflict over. 

Link landed near where his walking staff had fallen, picking it up and turning it into a sword.

“Let us fight then, Rhoam, and see once and for all which one of us deserves to live.”

With a roar, the king launched himself at Link slashing with his sword, forcing him to take flight to avoid being hit, before he dove back toward his former friend only to be countered when their swords met. Link tried to fly away and prepare another attack, but Rhoam’s whip latched onto one of his legs and the hylian pulled with surprising strength, hauling him toward the floor.

For a second the impact disoriented Link, as did the feeling of Malice on him again, but he regained his spirit in time to see Rhoam launching himself at him, sword in hand.

Without thinking Link flew up once more, hoping the king would be forced to let go of his whip. Instead Rhoam clung on until he too was lifted off the ground, the weight of him making the whip dig harder into Link’s leg. His thoughts tainted by the pain, Link flew toward the broken window from which his wings had returned to him, half hoping fear would make Rhoam release him.

That plan failed but Link flew on, taking both of them as high as he dared until they reached the top of the highest tower. Lowering himself quickly, Link dropped Rhoam on the stone floor of the tower, the shock of the collision finally forcing the hylian to let go of him. Without wasting a moment Link brought his sword to Rhoam’s throat, ready to finish what he had started, but blue eyes looked up at him and he froze.

There was cold hatred on that glare, and yet those eyes looked so much like Zelda that he had to hesitate. She had forgiven him so much, would she be willing to also forgive the death of a father after so much had already been taken from her? And did Link himself want that new blood on his hand? He had committed horrors over the years, and so had Rhoam, but he could not forget that the man he had once loved so eagerly had spared his life once.

With a flick of his free hand, Link sent Rhoam’s weapons flying over the tower’s low wall.

“You’ve lost,” he hissed. “Accept it. Leave this kingdom, and I’ll let you live.”

Taking a step back, Link motioned for Rhoam to get back on his legs. Instead the hylian launched himself at him, grabbing his wrist to try and take his sword from him, pulling and kicking until Link let go, falling backward on the ground. Rhoam too stumbled, but he was nearer the wall, at the level of a low crenel that hit the back of his knees. He fell over screaming under Link’s eyes. The kokiri scrambled on his feet and jumped after him, wanting to save the man who had once been his whole world, but before he could reach him Rhoam hit the ground with a sickening noise. Link himself barely had time to open his wings and avoid sharing that fate.

After years of a conflict that had thrown both their worlds into chaos, Link had won.


	15. I will build a throne

The stained windows of the great hall had been repaired through the use of magic, so none of the guests might have suspected they had ever been broken if they had not known the terrible battle that had happened there.

And there were _many_ guests present that day, though they did not mix much. On their side of the hall, the hylians gazed with fear at the woodland creatures that had been also invited to the coronation, not noticing that their horror was shared by the beings who had only agreed to leave their usual dwellings because they had been _begged_ to do so by one they loved so dearly.

In spite of the tensions, Zelda smiled from her throne. Even that careful truce would never have been possible just weeks earlier. It gave her hope for the future.

Her smile widened when she saw Link coming toward her with her three guardians, Revali trailing behind the four of them. Her godfather carried on a cushion a crown, not dark and sharp as the one he used to have, nor ostentatious and heavy as the one her father had, but delicate and in the shape of golden leaves and flowers. It broke tradition, and already her new ministers had grumbled against it. Zelda intended to bring change to her kingdom and this was but the firststep, so she was learning to ignore those old men.

Taking the crown in one hand and handing the cushion to Mipha, Link turned to the assembly of hylians and woodland beings.

“People of Hyrule and of the Lost Woods, I give you queen Zelda of Hyrule. May she rule with the wisdom and justice we have all longed for.”

Turning again to the hylian queen, he smiled at her and lowered the crown on her head. The object was light enough in itself, but the responsibilities that came with it were heavy on Zelda’s mind. There was so much to be done, so much to be rebuilt. The most important of all was the trust the royal family had lost after decades of power abuse.

She rose from her thrown.

“People of Hyrule, I am honoured to be named your queen from this day on. I hope I will have the strength to undo some of the harm that was done before me. I hope, also, that you will help me in this endeavour. Hyrule will change. Hyrule must change, if it is to survive."

She paused and smiled at all her new subjects. 

"For this reason, hear now my first royal order: from this day on, the Lost Woods are to be treated as a sacred place. None but its inhabitants may enter them, or those who were invited within by woodland beings. I know the kings that came before me promised you riches and jewels should we conquer the Lost Woods, but they contain no such things, as I know well for having been invited within. The only fortune of the Lost Woods is the kindness its people will extend to those who treat them with the decency any living person deserves, and I believe it to be more precious than the gold and gems some might have preferred.”

There were murmurs of consternation on the hylian side, but the woodland people exploded with joy at the announcement that promised peace for them. When Zelda looked at Link, she had to grin at the shock on his face. She had hesitated so much about this before choosing to keep her decision a secret from him. Revali had been right: it was good for him to sometimes have control taken from him.

“Now let us rejoice!” She exclaimed. “Today is a merry day! Let there be food for all, drinks aplenty, and music for all to dance as we celebrate the start of a new era for our kingdoms!”

Link watched as the young queen joined her people, her three guardians around her to protect her from harm as they had done for years. They had made plans to go home someday, but not until they were sure their precious charge was safe and secure in her position. Link knew they had also offered to take care of him if Zelda wished, to which she had only laughed and assured them it would not be necessary.

She would be a good queen, Link was sure of it. In a matter of two weeks since her father’s death, she had already shown a deeper interest in the good of the kingdom than Rhoam and Ganondorf ever had. It had made her unpopular with some of her ministers and generals, but on the whole everyone had been rather relieved at the idea the wars might end. Hyrule had been on the brink of bankruptcy for years, and Zelda would have some work to rebuild her nearly ruined kingdom. She would, though. Link had no doubt about that.

“Looking good in green,” Revali said next to him, handing him a glass of wine that Link immediately turned to simple juice. Even after all these years, the taste of wine was one he hated.

“I thought it was time to change back,” the kokiri replied, looking down at his tunic. It had been odd at first to let go of the black and silver he had worn for years, but he enjoyed this return to his old colours. Revali too seemed to appreciate the change, reaching toward his face to push some golden hair from his face.

“You do look a little less gloomy like that,” the birdman conceded. “And the grey hair made you look like an old man. Gold and green suits you better.”

Link smiled at the compliment. His friend’s approval meant a lot. More than he had realised until he heard the words, really.

He still owed Revali that conversation he had promised, neither of them having had much free time as they helped Zelda prepare her climb to power. He wasn’t sure now was the best time for it though, with so many people around.

Revali was of a different mind of course.

“So what happens now?” the birdman asked. “Will you turn me back into a bird and be rid of me?”

Taping one finger against his lips, Link pretended to consider the idea. “You are a rather annoying companion,” he sighed. “Surely, I cannot keep you as a servant when all you’ve ever done was contest every order I’ve given you.”

“Good thing I don’t owe you my servitude then,” Revali retorted.

“I wouldn’t need a servant anymore, anyway. A friend, though…”

“Only a friend?”

Again Link pretended to think about it, until he realised the doubt in Revali’s voice had been sincere. Raising himself on his tiptoes, Link kissed the birdman’s beak.

“More than a friend perhaps,” he conceded, grinning at the way Revali’s feathers ruffled at the gesture. “If you still want that, after everything?”

“Someone has to stay at your side to make sure you don’t do anything stupid,” the birdman grumbled, nuzzling his beak against Link’s nose. “Might as well be me.”

Link laughed, and let himself be pulled into Revali’s arms. It was terrifying to even think of allowing himself to care that way for another, but with Revali he would gladly take the risk.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Zelda chatting with prince Beedle. She smiled when she saw what was happening, and Link smiled back, glad to see she had found again that boy who had been so happy to talk to her.

He knew that if either of them got hurt, the other would be there to comfort them, and that made the risk easier to take.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading this fic!!  
It was fun to write, and I hope it was also fun to read! ;)


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